


My failed protégé.

by Lizziebits



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), Sleepy Bois Inc
Genre: Abuse, Bittersweet moments!, Emotional Abuse, Emotional Manipulation, New form of manhunt, Original au, Peer Pressure, Physical Abuse, Quackity is on the hit list., Stockholm Syndrome, Suicidal Thoughts, attempted execution, protégé Au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:47:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 32,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28337208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lizziebits/pseuds/Lizziebits
Summary: "Thanks again, Tommy."A silent nod, followed by a quiet murmur of; "Of course, man."He placed a dirt block above the entrance of the explosion, covering up the aftermath underground."Though, I do have something else for you."Wait, what?"An offer, if you will, buuuuut." He's trailing off, the unsurely tint of his voice giving away his standpoint almost right off the bat, which both concerned Tommy and interested him all at the same time, Dream was never unsure of anything."I'll tell you about it tomorrow, alright?" Tommy didn't have a chance to reply before the other continued. "You said you were going to sleep?"On a day like any other, Tommy is visited by dream, this time; however, an offer is mentioned.
Relationships: Alexis | Quackity & TommyInnit, Clay | Dream & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Floris | Fundy & TommyInnit, Technoblade & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 133
Kudos: 487





	1. Your return.

Two months.  
  
It’s been two months since Tommy’s exile.  
  
It’s been two months since Tommy has had to live by himself in a lonely clearing of a forest.  
  
Two months since Tommy has been trying to get all the supplies possible to guarantee his own young survival.  
  
It’s been two months since Dream has started visiting him daily, making sure that he was alright, making sure that the armor that would defend the teen from danger would be destroyed.  
  
It’s been a month since the beach party.  
  
It’s been a month since Wilbur has stopped visiting.  
  
It’s been a month since he almost jumped into Lava.  
  
It’s been a week since dream has visited.  
  
  
A week.  
  
. . .  
 _Dream._  
  
  
 _Where was he?_  
  
  
  
Probably just.. Busy with something, Tommy would comfort himself with the excuse and reason, believing his own naïve words as the grip around the axe he was holding would tighten with a deadly grip, a chuffed exhale leaving the frail figure of the blond as the scratched end of the iron was raised once again and he shifted his weight to better position himself.  
  
  
 _ **SLAM!  
**_  
  
Into the tree the axe went, causing the barks to fall out with ease as the large plant would shake ever so slightly, threatening to fall down with any more swings.  
  
This was the only thing that Tommy could properly busy himself with for the past few days, chopping down wood, storing the wood, burning the wood, collecting different types of wood from different biomes that existed around him (though they were fairly difficult to get to considering his lack of proper protection.) – Though, other than that, occasionally, he would go mining to get ores for extra tools, extra tools that he would not need.  
  
Extra tools that Dream would later on burn right in front of his exhausted hues.  
  
At first, Tommy will admit, It was pretty infuriating to watch as the disgustingly cunning smile of the mask leered at him as he was asked— no, ordered for him to drop all his hard-earned belongings into the small hole that he would usually create only to then place TNT above it and destroy it into tiniest of bits.  
  
It was terrible.  
Absolutely. _Terrible._  
  
A dick move, as Innit would call it.  
  
However, lately, things have been changing for the better, Tommy can say that much at least. With each day that he’d dig out the hole by himself and put in the armor without another word coming from the elder, he was able to notice a hint of what appeared to be… Genuine _satisfaction,_ and for once, the hateful smile didn’t feel as bad anymore.  
  
And that, that was good in his opinion. That was great news, actually. On good days that Dream wasn't angry with him, he'd get away with pretty much everything.   
  
He wouldn't have to worry about the monotone, disappointed tone that the elder would take on at his every mistake.  
  
He wouldn't have to always flinch away at the raise of Dream's voice.  
  
There wouldn't be any bruises to show for his disobedience.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
No bruises.  
  
No yelling.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 _H u f f.  
  
_. . .  
  
As long as dream was satisfied  
  
As long as Dream was in a calm state of mind, Tommy would be okay. And even with that, sometimes the Innit would question why the presence of the other man was so comforting to him. That mask was never all that pretty neither nice to look at, most of the actions from the other were either violent and or robotic, the lack of care in the admin's voice never helped that case either, however; Tommy would be lying if he said that Dream keeping him company did not let him relax, He'd be lying if he said that experiencing nice physical contact that Dream would sometimes reward him with through either a pat on the shoulder or even a hair ruffle felt like the greatest thing in the world.  
  
That's something that he wanted to experience more;  
  
So, he straightens his back again to raise the axe, readying himself for the brutal impact that would come with the next action.   
  
_SLAM!_  
  
 _S L A M !_  
  
His arms are continuing to ache and throb. How long has he been doing this for, even?  
  
 _SLAM!!_  
  
It has to have been a few hours now.  
  
 _SLAM !!!_  
  
No, hold on; he started the moment he woke up.  
  
  
  
 ** _S L A M ! !  
  
_**  
  
 _I can't see the sun anymore, have I been doing this for the entire day?  
  
  
_ Well, that didn't exactly matter now- as his motion came to a swift stop, Tommy would gulp down the painful lump that's been growing in his dry throat for a while now, unaware of the crackle that the tree in front of him gave out. After this was done and over with, he'll also have to make the armor and the weapons to make sure that everything is ready for when Dream arrives. He already has a chest full of useful equipment's, having extra is going to bring nothing more than the other's praise, he's sure.  
  
Wiping away at the sweat building up on his forehead and temples, the axe was aimed once more.  
  
  
And that.  
  
That's all that was needed for it to finally come crashing down.  
  
"SHIT—" Came a panicked shriek from the teen as he barely managed to dart out of the way, a loud THUD airing through the forest as the tree that he'd been chopping down slammed against the dirt, right onto the spot that Tommy previously stood at. Tired pulsing pupils of his staring at the scene in front of him in nothing but utter shock, confusion and distress.  
  
If he hadn't moved in time, that thing would have completely crushed him, and he's— he's only on one life. What the fuck was Dream going to tell everyone if he actually did right then and there?! Ah, yes, of course, you see, Citizens of L'manburg, Tommy died while chopping down a _tree. A fucking tree.  
  
_. . .  
  
A pitiful snicker as the Innit stumbles back and holds a hand up to his face, brushing the messy tangles of his hair back all the while taking in deep, short breaths. It's fine, though, right? Everything is alright. He's not completely useless. This was just one slip-up, No one will ever know a thing .. other than him, of course.   
  
_'Good going, big T. You're losing your ability in fucking everything. do you even know how to make mushroom soup anymore?'  
  
_ Another shake of his head, come on. This isn't the time to focus on stupid things like that. There's armor and weapons to make. Glancing back over to the small stack of logs that poofed on the ground, Tommy headed back over with careful steps and crouched down to collect the material, letting his hand hover over his worn-down pouch that would shift only momentarily before letting what appeared to be a hologram of an inventory appear.   
  
An inventory that wasn't all too interesting or flashy. Just repeated material.  
  
  
• OAK LOGS: 64 x9  
• IRON: 64 x10  
• IRON HELMET : 2.  
• IRON CHESTPLATE: 2.  
• IRON PANTS : 2.  
• IRON BOOTS: 2.  
• IRON AXE : 1.  
  
Collecting the extra logs into his bag, Tommy would dismiss the hologram with a wave of his hand, letting it vanish into air as he stood back up and began heading back towards the main area of his home, current home. Logstedshire.  
  
Arriving soon after, the boy was quick to head over to the barrels and place the majority of his today's earnings into the carriers, carelessly giving the mushroom cow that he had nicknamed Henry Jr in his head a tired wave. In all honesty, he just couldn't wait to hit the bed at this point, his arms and legs were sore, his eyes hurt, his fingers hurt, his stomach was practically screaming at the fact that he hadn't eaten today and his mouth felt dry. Surely, sleeping all of it away would fix everything.  
  
Surely.  
  
I mean, that's what he has been doing for so long now, sometimes, sure, he would try to eat something or exercise or drink but- no matter what he would do, it wouldn't help, it wouldn't ever help, so, taking the advice that he heard ages ago, he would do nothing but nap.  
  
  
At least in his dreams he wouldn't be so alone either.  
  
. . .  
  
Rubbing at his wrist only momentarily, Tommy was just about to kick at his heel and head out of the surrounding that Wilbur built to head towards his own little, shitty tent— only to then be stopped by a wave of nausea and another unusual feeling pulsing through the ground that he stood on, a booming voice of a portal reopening hitting against his eardrums like nails drilling into his skin.   
  
...  
Wait, portal—?  
  
He didn't know what happened in that very specific moment but, he froze up, completely lost all the focus that he had on getting to his tent and instead felt as his weakened body locked up in place out of pure instinct, adrenaline digging through his veins painfully as the thoughts of the teen scrambled to get everything together.  
  
Stopping dead in his tracks, the sense of doom, relief and excitement sunk in all at the same time and Tommy could physically note his face brightening up within seconds. Eyes instantly snapping over to the nether transport--  
  
. . .  
  
  
  
  
 _"Hey, Toms, sorry I took so long. "  
  
  
_  
  
  
. . .  
 _took so long._  
  
Took so long.  
It's been a whole week since Dream has visited him, a whole WEEK without another word or a visit. no NOTHING. Yet, he comes back oh so casually like nothing ever happened? No apologies? Before, Tommy would have cursed him out, kicked at him, insulted and screamed at him for being a complete idiot or would have just ignored him because come on now, who even cares about that guy? Sure he's like .. the god of the server or whatever but. He has no power over Tommy. Had no power over Tommy.  
  
Yet, despite the rage that should reasonably be bubbling up inside of the teen right now, he couldn't bring himself to say a single negative word, not even mutter out a quiet insult. Instead, he stood there for a moment, letting the image of the elder sink in.  
  
Dream simply waited.  
  
. . .  
  
Then the reality finally kicked in, he was here. his thoughts settled on their answer.  
  
  
 _Finally._  
  
  
  
  
  
" DREAM ! ! ! MYY _FRIEENDDDDD!!"_ Tommy excited barked out instantly, body jolting up with excitement as the blond's body shifted to properly face the green-hooded man, who kept standing there and watching with the smile piercing from even behind the mask. "Where the hell have you _been?!_ I thought you fuck _in'_ up n' left n' shit, man! You've been gone for a whole week!!!" That came out more as a friendly scold than anything, irritation and rage completely drained from his tone. There was nothing but pure and utter joy spitting from his tongue.  
  
"It was three days." A blank reply, tinted with the slightest sense of a smug tone.  
  
"No it was not !! I was counting, it's been a WEEK!"   
  
" Have you been getting any sleep? I literally told you two nights ago that I'd be away for a couple of days to work on something and you said that it was chill."  
  
"That—"  
  
...  
  
Was it actually three days? No, no Tommy swears he. . . he swore it was a week. He's been counting on his bed frame! Scratching out the days and making sure that he was keeping a track of things.   
  
But at the same time, there is a possibility that because he's been sleeping so often his knowledge of time has slipped by a tiny tad.   
  
. . .  
  
Oh but now Dream sounds irritated with him because of the accusation.  
  
 _Come on, come on! FIX IT.  
  
_ " R-Right, yeah !! Actually, forget I said that. Sorry. I was just about to go to sleep too so I might just be fucked in the 'ead yknow'?"  
  
"Oh, were you? I can leave if you want to go to b—"  
  
 _ **"NO."**  
  
  
_  
  
  
 _ **  
**_" **ANYWAY!"  
  
  
  
  
  
** "Wait!! WAIT, HOLY SHIT! JUST REMEMBERED! WAIT! DREAM!" At the hyped mention of his name, the masked man tilted his head to the side, only to then suddenly be grabbed by the arm (Which he didn't mind as much considering that the grip felt like a weak kitten's bite.) and dragged towards the house surrounded by barrels ( not to mention the prime log.)   
  
After being let go, he was stood right at the main entrance, still near the portal but - he was moved by a few feet. Dream doesn't see how exactly grabbing him was necessary but for now he'll let it slide.   
  
"DON'T. MOVE. A. _MUSCLE_. I'LL BE RIGHT BACK."   
  
And so, The man did as he was asked to, he stood there patiently and waited. Keeping himself busy by observing and examining the surroundings around him. Sure, He may have seen this place over a dozen times already but, who is there to say that nothing has changed while he was gone? Maybe Tommy got creative and tried to do become Ghostbur Jr by building and adding something new to the area? Though, to be fair, the only real _buildings_ that Dream has seen from the younger has always been the idiotic towers that he'd build everywhere.  
  
A nick at his fingernail.  
  
Speaking of the devil, Tommy.  
  
He was beginning to hear some scratching nearby, causing the dull eyes of the mask to switch over as he'd glance and watch Tommy shove forward an open chest in front of him, the smile behind his mask now disappearing, a confused expression slowly sketching itself up onto the admin's hidden face. It wasn't too often that Tommy would bring out an entire chest for him.  
  
"This is all of the shit that I've gathered in the last ww-th -- th-"   
  
A raise of a brow.  
  
"three days! yeah."   
  
Now he's awkwardly stood there again, watching Dream, waiting for approval or- anything!  
  
Dream, without a word, glanced back to the chest and leaned over to look inside, where he'd find numerous amounts of armor and weapons, all of it brand new and unused. From what he sees, Tommy hasn't used any of them yet, which.. is good. Straightening out his posture, the attention was switched back over to the survivalist and Dream raised up his hand— which quickly alerted the blond and he sucked in a sharp breath.  
  
He didn't do anything wrong by gathering all those stuff did he? he just—  
  
Then, a ruffle of his hair, followed by a gentle chuckle that warmed his insides and made his tense muscles immediately relax. Dream was laughing, and it wasn't a mocking laugh where he would completely rip apart Tommy's pride, it wasn't a pity laugh which he would use to try and make the boy feel better during hard times. It was a genuine, caring laugh that wasn't all too common.  
  
"Thanks, Tommy, you've been getting really good at this, yeah? Say, yknow what?"  
  
" W— What?"  
  
"You can keep two sets of armor, I don't really want to burn _all_ of your hard work."  
  
Tommy blinked.  
  
 _Huh.  
  
_ "Really?"  
  
"I mean, yeah. I don't see why not. "  
  
Dream's voice was a bit more muffled now as his entire upper body was shoved halfway through the chest, taking out the two sets of armor he promised to save Tommy, letting it rest in his inventory for the time being. after that was done and over with, he stood back up and gestured Tommy over, who without protesting instantly moved to ground level and dug a lengthy hole under the chest, which Dream let out an appreciative hum at.   
  
As soon as that was over with, Tommy stood and backed up, now watching as Dream broke the chest with a simple swing of an axe and let the remaining of the items drop into the hole that was created, the TNT being placed over it afterwards. Tommy recalls the time the first time this happened, he recalls the heartbreak and anguish that came over him, the absolute flaming rage.   
  
But in this very moment, he didn't feel anything, not a sample of irritation, not a hint of awe or shock.   
  
. . .  
  
And who can blame him? This is exactly why he saved all of those supplies up for.  
  
 _SPARK-  
  
 **BBWHOOM--  
  
  
**_ Jolting a tad at the loud noise that boomed and the bright flash of folight, Tommy would let out a slow exhale that he didn't know he was holding back. Still, though, no matter how many times he would see TNT, hear TNT or feel TNT burn against his skin, it would never get old. He would never get used to it. With each and every light explosion of light he'd get thrown back to the time during which he had to crawl his way out of rubble only to resume the bloody war with the opposing side, the SMP that had betrayed his nation.  
  
"Thanks again, Tommy."  
  
A silent nod, followed by a quiet murmur of; "Of course, man."  
  
He placed a dirt block above the entrance of the explosion, covering up the aftermath underground.  
  
"Though, I do have something else for you."  
  
Wait, what?  
  
"An offer, if you will, buuuuut." He's trailing off, the unsurely tint of his voice giving away his standpoint almost right off the bat, which both concerned Tommy and interested him all at the same time, Dream was never unsure of anything.  
  
"I'll tell you about it tomorrow, alright?" Tommy didn't have a chance to reply before the other continued. "You said you were going to sleep?"   
  
Realizing that he was now able to speak, the chapped lips of the blond opened, though, he struggled with finding a proper answer; he _was_ going to go to bed but, now that Dream was here, he almost didn't want to. after being hit with such a large burst of excitement, who wouldn't, really? Maybe the offer was going to get him a two week visitation allowance, or maybe even— letting out a stuttering exhale which almost seemed like a failed chuckle, Tommy would bite at the inside of his cheek and lightly kick his heel, eyes shifting to the side awkwardly. "Well, probably?? yeah? but, if you want to do something else too that's completely cool, I mean-"  
  
"No, no. You were going to sleep, so you'll sleep."  
  
Welp, that's what he's going to do then.  
  
"And, for once I'll be staying overnight, you don't really sleep in the house I've noticed and there's way too many monsters out tonight, Don't want a creeper blowing you up out of nowhere while there's still things to do."  
  
For a moment there, Tommy had to take a few seconds to properly process what was just said to him, Dream out of all people staying with him overnight to make sure that he was _safe_? Shoving down the feeling of safety that he experienced in those very few seconds, the blond inhaled sharply and didn't even try to protest against the idea, instead, he simply nodded and gave the other a quick nod. "HHhhhahaa, ooooOookay, sure, you want a bed, or-"  
  
"Nah."  
  
"But it's uncomfortable as fuck on the ground and there's literally nowhere else to sit outside of my tent-"  
  
"That is true, but i'll manage, now go to bed, I'll be there soon."  
  
Deciding not to argue any further, Tommy mumbled a defeated "Aight, night big man'." before shuffling past dream and making his way back to the tent just as he was previously, entering it moments later. Kicking off his singular shoe, Tommy would take another shaky breath in and let his heavy eyelids fall, body collapsing instantly onto his poorly built bed that shook the moment he landed on it; Ignoring the risk of the thing possibly falling apart while he's asleep, Innit buried his face against the soft cushion and simply forced himself to pass out, mind trying not to think of the possibilities that would take place tomorrow.  
  
 _An offer, huh?  
  
_. . .  
  
Wonder what that's all about.  
  
  
  
  



	2. Your friendship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to say, thank you so much for the support on the first chapter! I genuinely appreciate it and hope to make more chapters for you guys to enjoy! If you have any suggestions/questions/criticism you can leave em' down in the comments below!
> 
> Thank you so so much again! <3

_"Tommy..."  
  
  
  
_  
_The gentle tone of his friend would whisper out quietly, the softness that would follow the young president's voice comforting beyond all levels; the voice matching the gentleness of a butterfly's wings, It's volume as quiet as the soft rush of wind on a sunny day. This voice of his is something that Tommy has grown to trust over the count of so many years; the only voice that he could depend on for reason, the only voice that he could depend on for loyalty, trust and most importantly, brotherly love.  
  
__Tubbo, despite having to suffer through so many wars and betrayals, never strayed from the path that he and Tommy carved out together, the path that would keep the two close and connected no matter the consequences of what they had to do. They were destined to be together forever, weren't they? Best friends til' the end of time, they used to say while laughing, joyfully sitting against the bench as the calming music would play out from behind them, adding onto the relaxing atmosphere.  
  
_...  
  
_So why—?  
  
  
  
__"Tommy, I'm.. **I'm so. so. so sorry.**_ _"  
  
__Previously optimistic tone of the boy was now shifting into one filled with nothing but regret and terrifying realization of what was to come. words threatening to crack upon themselves as the usually bright eyes of the president watered, bright yellow hues snapping at Tommy in a horrifying, familiar sense. He didn't understand why this was happening, or how this was happening.  
  
Tubbo had promised— He WENT ALONG WITH THE PLAN! He-   
  
__He was supporting them, he was supporting Tommy, they swore they were going to keep eachother's backs through thick and thin, through lava and water, nether and the end— this—  
  
This wasn't right.   
This wasn't right at all.  
  
It had to be a joke.  
  
"Tubbo?"  
  
A voice of a pitiful, fallen soldier, reaching forward towards his best friend as to desperately try to grab at his shoulder, trying his best to make sure that this wasn't a hologram or a hallucination that he was experiencing. "Tubbo, what are you on about, man? T- Tell dream that we're not taking his shit anymore, cmon--"  
  
No matter how much he tried, however, His Tubbo was all too far out of reach; and the two figures that appeared at the sides of the higher power would only let the distance grow.  
  
"I'm incredibly sorry but-"  
  
"Y O O U R 'E A LIABILITY TO T H **I S S C CO U N T TTT T RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY**   
  
  
  
_  
_**YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY** A_ _ **AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOMMY-** "  
  
_  
  
_**"-mmy. "  
  
**_" _ **TOMMY!"  
  
  
  
. . .  
  
. . . . .  
  
**_A slow, unsure blink and a raspy shaky exhale.   
_**  
  
**_   
  
  
Y'know, waking up to the image of a smiley mask staring down at you without any emotion isn't one of the greatest things in the world, but at the same time, it's not the worst possible choice either when you consider the person behind the said mask. Though, right now, that wasn't Tommy's main concern. He was sweaty, gross, and was for some reason, shaking with dream hovering over him like some sort of paranoid hawk.  
  
"..."  
  
"Dream, no offense, but _why_ the fuck did you wake me up and why are you stood there all creepy n' shit-"  
  
"Tommy, no offense, but it looked like you were having a _seizure_ in your sleep." Dream snapped back almost instantly with little to no care to how dramatic he sounded, the man now moving back a tad to create the distance between the two, not wanting to invade Tommy's personal space out of nowhere. "Either that or- okay, you've seen how dogs act when they're having a dream? Yeah, that. Got worried."  
  
Well, that was a great explanation if Tommy has ever heard of one, sitting up with an already scrunched up expression, the blond wiped his hand against his forehead and let out an annoyed grumble under his breath. _"Man, whatever, just because I was having a shitty dream doesn't mean that you need to wake me up."_ He rambled quietly to himself, knowing full well that whatever he was saying probably didn't come out as properly as he wanted it to, plus; it isn't like he actually meant it, sure, sleeping away your problems was easy to do but, when experiencing those same problems in your dreams, you don't exactly have a choice but to face it head-on in reality.  
  
"Alright, well! Good morning, I left you some steak over in your little uh,"  
  
A motion to the side.  
  
"Chest, eat up and we can get started on the day, I'll be outside."  
  
And just as quickly as that, Dream disappeared from Tommy's view before he could even properly process what was said. Deciding not to focus on it too much, Innit shuffled to kick the blanket off of himself and prop himself off to the side, hand reaching down his shoe and quickly shuffling it against his bare, bruised and scratched up foot, his left foot having nothing but a sock to accompany the skin. After that was over with, the blond doubled his upper body over, leaned forward and then with the strength that he could muster kicked himself up onto his feet, stumbling a tad as his vision would go dark for a split second or two, blinding him only momentarily.  
  
He's pretty sure he almost passed out there, but that's fine. Not the first time that it'd happen anyway.  
  
After getting the steak and eating it up like he was instructed, Tommy headed out of his tent and almost got completely oblitirated by the sun shining against him, eyes squinted to the fullest potential as he now proceeded to look around to spot neon green in the field, hand propping itself up to his forehead to create some shadow for the half of his face.  
  
It still felt weird, knowing that Dream was there so _early._ I mean, yeah, he stayed the night but _ **-**_ even _THEN_ that was weird!   
  
Eventually spotting the man in the distance, Tommy would knit his eyebrows together even more. Dream wasn't near the nether portal or the mine, and he wasn't near the house that Wilbur created either, instead, the admin was stood at a complete clearing. _Maybe just being quirky and taking in the nature_ \- thought Tommy before awkwardly making his way over silently with no dramatic distant yelling of 'EYY YOO BITCH BOY WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!' .  
  
Step.   
  
_Step!  
  
_"Heeeyy." Tommy would chuckle out in an odd way, popping out from Dream's side and nudging the masked man's shoulder excitedly, trying to boost the atmosphere that seemed all too calm and silent for his liking. "Aight' so, I noticed we've only been doing what I want to do for the past month or two n'-" A cough. "I was wondering if there's anything _you_ wanna do?" A polite offering, an odd sight. "Maybe give me netherite, some gapples if you will."   
  
Tommy was the physical embodiment of the eyes emoticon right now.  
  
Dream, on the other hand, expressed zero reaction to his little remark.  
  
"Are you awake enough, Tommy?"   
  
A question that would usually hold little to no significance - a question that now seemed too inciting as Tommy remembered the mention of an offer from yesterday.  
  
"Um, yes?"   
  
It fell quiet after that for a minute or two as the elder seemed to debate on something in his head, eventually turning to Tommy and gesturing behind him with a careless motion of his hand.  
  
"Right, well, It's nothing anything big or interesting but, I brought two more tridents again since I know you broke the last one." The amount of disappointment that was filled in the last few words was immeasurable and Tommy physically felt himself cringe back like a turtle. "We can go have fun with them for a little while before moving onto something more productive like.. building your horrendous cobblestone tower."  
  
"ITS NOT FUCKING HORRENDOUS! ITS A LITERAL SHOW OF POWER _—"  
  
_A snicker.  
  
"What power?"  
  
  
  
  
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────  
  
  
  
And so, They went on to have fun with the tridents.  
  
  
Tommy ended up falling over three times.  
  
  
Dream caught him twice.  
  
  
Dream couldn't catch him the third time.  
  
  
Dream had to spend over two hours chasing Tommy down because the brat kept flying away to different lakes and they ended up getting lost.  
  
  
He insisted that the way back home was north.  
  
  
It ended up being south.  
  
  
They were lost for three hours.  
  
  
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
**"SEE?! I TOLD YOU IT WAS THIS WAY YOU FUCKIN'- I swear to god, _americans. stupidfuckinggodihateallofyoufuckfuckfuckshitfu--"  
  
_**"To _MMY !!_ " A struggled wheeze which was quickly interrupted by a shaky cough. "IM THE ONE THAT SAID IT WAS THIS WAY, YOU IDIOT."   
  
With a dismissive huff and a smile, Tommy would storm past dream with the trident still in hand, immediately marching towards the tent in the far distance, he was too tired to deal with this and bluntly, he wanted to put all of his stuff away, get on with something more responsible and then.. probably sleep, like usual. before he could even do that, though, the teen would suddenly be stopped in the middle of his walk by a hand being firmly placed on his shoulder, this time, he didn't seem as alert ( considering that Dream wasn't exactly in a bad mood or anything like that. ) .  
  
Leering behind him with interest, Innit cocked a brow curiously. "Yeah?"  
  
"After you take a breather, We gotta' talk about something."   
  
_Oh. Okay, well, that didn't sound all too good.  
  
_"A-" A confused stutter, masked by a cough of his own as Tommy would furiously nod his head a couple of times. "Sure, sure, course', just give me a moment to put some shit away." For once, he hoped that Dream wasn't going to take his belongings again, this time around, the teen had actually found different sorts of treasures during their little hunt and sort of valued them considering they were basically physical embodiments of the memories that he had created with the other.  
  
Dream simply nodded and let go, standing in one place like he was frozen.  
  
Sometimes, the guy really did act like a robot - Tommy thought to himself jokingly, moving away from the masked party once again to get into the tent and place all the treasures that he had gained into the small holder, making sure to be gentle as to not accidentally break something like he did once previously. though, despite this being a quick task, Tommy was trying his best to slow it down as much as humanly possible. He didn't like talks, didn't like it when someone would mention a serious discussion out of nowhere, disliked being put in situations that would make him _stressed.  
  
_But at the same time, this just means that.. Dream trusts him enough to voice his concerns and or thoughts about whatever is going on, right? Maybe it's something good, even! It's better to have hope rather being a downer, the boy would remind himself with another swift exhale, breathing focused on calming down his already racing heart.  
  
With that out of the way, Tommy closed the chest and fixed up his ripped and dirtied shirt, patting himself down. If he was about to get talked down to again for some unknown reason, he was going to go at it with style.   
  
Or, the style that he has left.  
  
And so, he gets out of the tent and notices Dream just at the area that he stood at previously, now the man being seen sitting at a lake instead of simply standing there like a literal stone-cold statue. Making his way over without another word, Tommy leaned over, a bitter taste lingering on the back of his tongue as the anxiety rose again and bubbled in his stomach like a parasite. "Can I sit?" Again, odd. Even Tommy didn't recognize himself with how he asked that.  
  
He didn't think about it.  
  
A nod came from Dream and he sat down.  
  
It took a while for either of them to say anything, maybe the moment was just too good too ruin. eventually though, Tommy would uncomfortable because of the overwhelming silence and finally broke through it with a clearing of his throat.   
  
"Soo, big D-"  
  
"Don't call me that."  
  
"Big man! What did you wanna talk about? Are you already ready to let me back into Lmanburg? Aww, I knew you'd warm up to me quickly, holy shi-"  
  
"Lmanburg is becoming corrupt."  
  
Everything dulled down at that very second and the toothy grin that was once sketched upon Tommy's face slowly faded into nothing, joyful eyes narrowing into a concerned glare that couldn't quite exactly convey all the emotions that the teen was feeling.  
  
...  
Hell, even he didn't know what he was feeling.  
  
"What.. what do you mean?"   
  
  
  
  
  
  
_**"I mean it's becoming corrupt, Tommy."  
**_  
  
  
  
  
"I thought that giving Tubbo the choice to exile the first problem was going to give him the general idea of what to do, I mean; he's a smart kid, Tommy, we both know this, but. Lately he has been doing nothing but stirring trouble with people that he should not even be messing with." Dream would murmur out all too bluntly, tone flavored with annoyance and irritation. "Despite being the president, He is also letting _Quackity_ control him like some sort of toy, and Quackity is not fit to lead _anything,_ hell, he even tried to fucking attack _MY_ land!"  
  
Tommy doesn't say anything.  
  
"From what I know, they also created some sort of 'butcher army' to hunt down Technoblade, which is a stupid idea in general. And to be completely honest here, they're becoming very.. impulsive, reckless, unfit. I don't know if these sort of influences should even be allowed to stay near a young president like Tubbo, Tommy. It doesn't feel _right."  
  
__I thought L'manburg was doing good without me;_ was the only thing the soldier could think at that very second while taking in all of Dream's rambles and comments. _They were wrong, even Dream is admitting that exiling me did nothing. hah. HAH! HAHAHAHAH- BET YOU FEEL STUPID NOW YOU MOTHERFUCKERS—  
  
_"So  
  
**_I need your help."_**  
  
  
  
**. . .  
**  
  
  
_"What do you-"  
  
_"Quackity, Tommy. He's been the direct influence to Tubbo's terrible decision making. I have told him to step down as to allow people with better leadership skills and abilities to help out Tubbo but he refuses to cooperate, again, he attacked me and my men when I tried to intervene with his terroristic work. He's hurting Tubbo and he's hurting Lmanburg, Do you get what I'm saying?"   
  
"I-"  
  
" . . . "  
  
  
  
**_  
_**_**"We need to get rid of him."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
**What .. ?  
  
**  
  
  
  
**_"Surely you're not _—"  
  
"_Again, I don't know how much you care about Tubbo or L'manburg as of right now, Toms. But. I still want to help and-" A distressed sigh as the masked man rubs at his temple momentarily. "To help people you have to make great sacrifices. Plus I can't exactly do this on my own either, I have to keep a neutral side during all of this but when it comes to these sort of situations, I physically can't do anything. That's why I need you to help me on this."  
  
. . .  
_'Is he straight out asking me to execute big Q-'  
  
  
_"If you don't want to that's fine, I'll just ask for help somewhere else."  
  
A pause.  
  
_Wait, hold on, no- nonononono- He finally trusts me with something I can't just say no instantly? ? ? What the fuck, no. But holy shit, I can't just .. Kill big Q like that. I don't know if he's really even that bad.  
  
_. . .  
_I haven't even killed anyone yet, Isn't he on his last life?_  
  
And with nothing but a terrified stare from Tommy, hundreds on hundreds of thoughts would flow through his head at alarming speeds, the painful beating of his heart adding onto the terrible, twisting gut feeling that was beginning to form in his stomach, making his throat lock up. If it weren't for the fact that he had to keep a normal composure around Dream during moments like these, he'd be throwing up at the thought right now.  
  
"I don't.." A blabber of words is all that came out, a definitive answer nowhere to be found as the young teen tapped his finger nervously against the ground, trying to come up with something to say, _anything_ to say. But what was there to say? He hadn't chosen yet, he _couldn't_ choose yet.   
  
Noticing the lack of prepared answer, Dream noted it all understandably, the hesitation clear to the man. He wasn't going to push on the topic any further. It's best to let the apple grow before you pick it off of the tree officially, right? right. And that is exactly what he was going to do.   
  
"Dream, man, you have to be fucking arou-"  
  
"Decide by tomorrow." An order that interrupted the pitiful attempt of the younger, Voice far more stern and proud to be heard over. With his main goal out of the way, the admin would slowly stand up from his spot and stretch his arms out, the focus of his eyes still lingering on the lake before them. "There will be stuff underneath your main chest for when you decide. Take that as you will."  
  
Tommy once again can't bring himself to say anything of worth.  
  
"See you tomorrow, Tommy. Goodnight."  
  
. . .  
  
_**STEP.**_  
  
**Step.**  
  
_step.  
  
_  
And as quickly as that, the figure would disappear back into the nether portal, leaving Tommy to watch as he left. With his mind slowly going blank at the amount of stress that had just been stabbed into him, the boy pushed himself up onto his feet with a shaky balance, heading over to the tent as the mere curiosity was quick to peek at him. Underneath his main chest, he said.  
  
. . .  
  
What was underneath his chest?  
  
Moving forward only to then slam down onto his knees and double his upper body forward, Tommy shoved his hands against the visible chest and scooted it out of the way, uncovering the hidden chest below which he opened up all too effortlessly after.  
  
In the chest, there was a crossbow and a stack of arrows.  
  
In the chest, there was a spare bag.  
  
In the chest, there was a mask.  
  
. . .  
  
  
And he had to decide _—_  
  
  
He had to decide by tomorrow.   
  
  
  



	3. Your offer.

_"Tommy?" A voice oh so familiar would call with a curious undertone, causing the young soldier to momentarily pause the process of mining and instead peek over with a raised brow. They were in the middle of working on the new training area of pogtopia and for the past two hours or so Wilbur has been dead silent, not even letting out a snicker or a groan or even a wince at any of Tommy's terrible attempts at jokes that would sometimes turn into comforting taunts. so, now that the elder was finally speaking, the boy just felt a bit confused - and a tad curious.  
  
_...  
  
 _After a shut and open of his eyes, however, Tommy's confusion would only grow. When did they get back to L'manburg? They were just at their hideout a moment ago.  
_  
 _"What the fuck.. ?!" Tommy would mutter under his breath in a rush, flinching at the sudden change of air and atmosphere as the teen suddenly got blasted back with an aggressive amount of force, dust flying in his face as the ground beneath him would shake. "WIL?!--"  
  
_ _A distant voice called, now far and raspy, almost like it was breathing out its final, dying breath.  
  
  
  
  
_ _"You want to be a hero, Tommy?"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
_ _"That's not-"  
  
A stutter of his words. The explosions around him setting off yet another spark as Tommy's arms would desperately grab at his own shoulders to keep himself stable, shielding his chest from the blade that had barely missed him, the holder of the weapon approaching step by step.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 **"YOU WANT TO BE A HERO, TOMMY?!"  
  
  
** He goes falling down the cliff as another blast of force, falling deep into a pit. He stays there, the booming noises muffled through his bloodied ears.  
  
  
_  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 _ **"Well then."  
  
  
** A hand takes a rough hold of his shoulder's and pushes him back up onto his feet, keeping him stable and safe. **  
  
  
  
  
**_  
  
  
_**"Be one."  
  
. . .  
  
JOLT—  
  
  
  
**_  
  
slow blink.  
  
  
 _Good morning to you too, world. Thanks for the lovely greeting, Bitch.  
  
  
_ With a low exhale, Tommy would slowly sit up his aching body, heavy eyelids threatening to shut back once again as he would forcefully keep himself up for a couple of seconds, processing the surrounding reality before the teen raised up his hands and rubbed lightly at his eyes to get the sleep out of them, an exhausted mutter leaving him all the while. Despite usually managing to pass out and get a decent amount of sleep, this night was absolute hell to go through. He kept waking up every hour or two, tossing and turning, not being able to go back to bed and so on, all of that being so nicely complimented with terrible dreams that kept haunting his each awakening.   
  
Pushing himself up and onto his side, Tommy moved his foot into his shoe once again and stood up with a small wince, the texture of grass hitting against his sock never being the best feeling in the world. It was time to get on with today, whether he liked it or not.   
  
And today's activities included:  
  


* * *

  
• Chopping wood.  
• Thinking.  
• Thinking.  
• Thinking.  
• Thinking again.  
• Chopping wood.  
• Getting Iron.  
• Thinking.  
• Thinking.  
• Meeting Dream.  
• Talking with Dream.  
  


* * *

  
Sounds interesting enough! Getting out of the tent with a quick shuffle, Tommy would let his inventory pop back up with a wave of his pointing finger, an iron axe forming in the hand of the boy as he headed away from his comfort space and back towards the forest. le he ignored the loud rumbling of his stomach. He'd eat later if he needed to.   
  
Approaching a random tree that he chose for his next target, the teen raised up the axe and without any further hesitations or thoughts, slammed it against the bark with aggressive impact, making sure that his aim was normal unlike before, when he almost got crushed because of the fact that he was zoning out.  
  
Though, now that his physical body was focused on a task, he had to also spend some time thinking of a proper answer that he was going to give Dream later on today.  
  
An answer to his offer.  
  
An offer to execute Big Q, a former soldier that fought alongside Pogtopia, a friend that once stood by Tommy's side and a man that supported him until the very last second when he needed someone to lean on. But, That could be counted as betrayal, could it not? Sticking by someone for as long as they're useful and then disappearing from their life once the struggles make it to the surface. A definition of friend and an ally does not fit under that all, the boy would think.  
  
...  
But then again, that's a selfish excuse to kill someone.  
 _'Selfish, you're fucking selfish.'  
  
_ However, Dream mentioned that all of this would also be for the greater good of L'manburg and.. Tubbo, right? Quackity was being a terrible influence and overall a danger to his former best friend and country, he was hurting them all just by being there and causing mass destruction with his words and actions, refusing to step down from his position and putting everything that he has worked for at a risk just for his own greedy needs.  
  
 _That almost sounds like me, doesn't it?  
  
_ _'Should be grateful that Dream even felt bad for me and let me live this long. He could have offered this same exact thing to anyone else as a quick way to get rid of my annoying ass'—_ A shaky sigh as another slam airs against the tree and Tommy sucks in a sharp breath, feeling the itch against his arms once more which he would later on learn to ignore.   
  
A life is worth so much.  
Yet, that logic doesn't.. need to apply each and every time. Someone who only thinks of themselves and their wants is not worth anything.  
  
 _'If I'm not worth anything._ _He's not worth anything either.'  
  
_ **SLAM!—** The crackle of the tree voices its final moment again before Tommy moves out of the way, watching as it crashed down and poofed into a few logs that were quickly collected by the younger, inviting it into his inventory with a swift snap of his fingers. ' _Dream provided all of the reasons as to why Quackity needs to be killed, hell, even before Quackity I was supposed to execute Schlatt in the van before the guy ended up having a whole fucking heart attack.'  
  
_ And both; both of them were villains in this story. It would serve the same justice but with different personas, so it should be fine, It should be alrr i —  
  
What about Tubbo?  
  
His arms freeze up mid-swing and Innit even blinks at the way his body instantly stopped at the thought of the president's name.   
  
God, It's been so long now but, this happens every time. Every single time he thinks about him he feels weird. He feels terrible about himself. I mean, that's also understandable and fair, Isn't it? Who wouldn't feel bad after thinking of a best friend that promised to stay with you forever and then left you behind, not visiting for months on end even though they know that you are struggling with loneliness and the wilderness almost killing you each and every day.  
  
SHARP INHALE—  
  
Still, though. Tubbo wouldn't exactly mind.. well, no, he will, he would, but. Tubbo does not know what he wants, He is just like how Tommy was before, Naive, foolish, and stubborn. If the teen actually does take up the offer and goes through with what dream wants him to do, Innit is more than sure that after a while Tubbo will come to his senses and realize Dream's reasoning behind the matter.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 _  
_

 _Why am I so concerned about what Tubbo thinks anyway? As long as it's for his greater good I don't have to explain shit to him. I don't need him to- feel okay-- with me doing something that he doesn't agree with. It's fine._  
  
And despite comforting himself with that thought over and over again, Tommy couldn't help but feel how the stabbing like sensation in his stomach was now twisting in painful turns, causing a shiver to run up his spine as the young survivalists heart continued to pound with heavy beats, causing short and raspy breaths from the boy.  
  
  
  


  


  
  
  
Tubbo doesn't like him right now either way. He doesn't want to see Tommy, hasn't wanted to see him in months. He exiled him and probably hasn't even considered sending him a single letter just to make sure that he's at least still alive. More than anything, he simply seems like the shell of a person that he once used to be, the ability to care and express sympathy drained from the young president.  
  
He doesn't know what he wants to do.  
  
He doesn't know what he wants.  
  
Yet, _Dream does.  
  
  
_

_  
  
  
  
_

_  
  
Dream always knows what he wants.  
  
  
_ He's never subtle about what he wants or how he is going to get it. He doesn't mope around wasting time on trivial things and instead focuses all of his time and energy into completing a goal that he has set for himself. It doesn't matter how long it even takes to get it, or what he has to sacrifice in order to achieve something. As long as it's done, he will be satisfied- and that? Tommy always enjoyed and praised that fact about the masked man, you could say that he looked up to that trait. Wanted to have it himself. Despite having a whole to do list, Tommy himself could never exactly focus on one goal at a time and or complete any that he was focused on all too effectively. It would all fall apart in the end anyway.  
  
With the differences clear as day, Tommy found it easy to know which side was more reliable ; _A little puppet boy against an admiral of the world.  
  
_ The choices would be worth laughing at if it weren't for the fact that the emotional connection was still an issue.  
  
An issue that Tommy would force down his own throat and try to ignore it to his fullest ability, because since when did his input of emotions matter? He remembers dream mentioning that it's better to look at things from a logical standpoint instead of emotional, and being emotional is exactly what had lost Tommy his two other lives.  
  
His recklessness and impulsiveness, all a result of him being selfish and proud.   
  
_**SLAM**_ — _ **!!**_ And there he goes again, reluctantly continuing the process of chopping down trees while the brainstorming of the young exile would continue on ruthlessly, filling up the blank space of his brain with nothing but doubt, growing doom and anxiety.   
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
Just as instructed on his list, the half of the day was spent on chopping down logs and then spending the ten minutes that he'd take as breaks to drown in his own thoughts for another long while before getting back to work.   
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
It didn't take long for night time to come around either, the sky darkening within the jet black, starts dotting the clear canvas as rubble would silently fall in a cave nearby, Pieces of iron sliding against the ground for Tommy pick up the heavy blocks as he usually would, storing it into his already full inventory. Despite the fact that on working days like these Innit would practically be begging the day to hurry up and be over with, his aching muscles were not his main concern in that very moment. Dream would be getting back any second now and Tommy still hasn't made up his mind on what he was going to do.   
  
He was given an entire day and yet he still didn't have a proper answer, what the hell was the guy going to think about that? Probably that Tommy was indecisive about the simplest of things, that's not a good opinion to have on someone, not at all.  
  
Especially when that someone only has one friend to rely on.  
  
 _ **CRACK—**_ Went the pickaxe into the cold stone, the dim lighting of the place around providing little to no help as Tommy would forcefully squint his eyes to figure out if there was any more hidden iron behind the cobble, which, no, there wasn't.  
  
With a loud groan that that echoed and turned into an irritated huff, Tommy would pull back the sharp end. _"Fuck sake's, ma-"  
  
_ "Tommy."  
  
A HIGH PITCHED SCREAM _ **—**_  
  
  
  
  
  
A grip of the pickaxe, his hand is shaking and all of the previous attempts at creating a relaxing atmosphere disappeared in less than a second.   
  
With a light chuckle airing through the cave, Dream tilted his head to the side, taking a step closer as he observed Tommy with a keen eye.  
  
  
"Hey, did I scare you?"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Tommy, after less than a minute, turns around with an awkward smile growing onto his features, the nervousness tinting his face with great opacity as his back presses against the cold stone ever so lightly, the physical surface keeping him grounded for now as the pickaxe that was stuck to the wall right next to him remained there. 

With an over exaggerated laugh piercing back as a reply, Tommy bit the inside of his cheek and sucked in a sharp inhale. "WELL, HHAH. UM." with a loud, thoughtful 'MMMMMMMMM.' Following soon after, the blue hues shifted to the side. "YEAH ?? Dream, and I'm saying this in the nicest way possible, you're creepy as shit when you appear out of- literally fucking nowhere!!"

Another playful snicker, and the elder comes back to lean his own body against the darkened rumble of rocks, resting there. the cold gaze did not leave the blond.   
  
"Really? Hm, I didn't think I was creepy. More like.. mysterious and.."  
  
Dream can already see the look of; 'Ehhh...' on Tommy's face.  
  
".. Just mysterious will do."   
  
Now that's way better.  
  
"Though, how's your luck with ores tonight? Found any diamonds yet? Maybe gold?"  
  
"OH, UHHH." With a rush, Tommy swung his hand back against his pouch and gave it a quick tap, the hologram of his inventory appearing once again. All he had was Iron and wood (And stacks of cobblestone but he knew those bad boy's weren't going to get burnt. They were useless to Dream.) "Not .. really? I've just been mining around this main area. THOUGH! I did think about creating an underground bunker and then connecting it to the village with a tunnel so it's easier to access during the ni-"  
  
"Yeah, yeah, that's great." Oh. well, that sounded like he just dismissed Tommy but, that's fine, He'll deal with it. "Say, Tommy?" After hearing a quick, yet quiet 'Yeah?' From the boy, Dream tilted his head up a tad and leered to the ceiling, mentally debating if this was the right time. Soon after, he came to a decision and straightened out his back to look at the younger dead in the eyes, his own malice filled hues hidden behind the mask of god. "Again, no rush, but— have you thought about the offer?"  
  
That's all Tommy needed to hear to instantly tense up again, body freezing up as his muscles would lock up painfully, causing a twitch of his arm. This is exactly what he did _not_ want to hear right now, fuck, this was the _last_ thing he wanted to hear today.   
  
_Maybe, Just maybe I can buy myself some more time, QUICK, USE A DISTRACTION!_  
  
"The what."  
  
 _NOT THAT FUCKING KIND OF DISTRACTION.  
  
_ Instead of playing into it, however, the elder stood there, staring with a blank expression as to signal Tommy to get a move on, which did absolutely nothing but make the boy tense up even further and rub at his own hands for a way to ground himself properly.   
  
"I- Hah, um.. Iii diiiiid.. "  
  
A stutter, he's shutting up. Breathing getting hitched back.   
  
He doesn't know if he's ready or not to even take someone's life. _officially_ take someone's life, After this there would be no coming back for big Q, so it wouldn't just be _teaching him a lesson—_ But at the same time, he's a danger to so many people, so many innocent people, it'd be a terrible move on Tommy's end to not take up Dream's offer and get rid of a villain that's ruining the story, right? Tap. But then again, He doesn't know if Quackity is the main villain or not, what if—  
  
A glance to Dream. A part of him feels so comforted by his presence, the other part is absolutely mortified.  
  
If he doesn't do it, Dream will get someone else to, and anyone else would be way more aggressive and or unreliable. If Quackity is going to die, he's going to go out in a quick, merciful way. That's not a bad mindset, right? Everyone will get what they want and- and everything will turn out fine.  
  
Dream will be satisfied with him, Tubbo will be healthier, shit, what if he even considers letting Tommy back in after realizing how big of a favor that he did for the guy? That sounds nice.  
  
 _You did great, Tommy._ A voice bickered to him, cooing. _You've been getting really good at this, y'know?_ It continued lovingly, voice gentle and soothing, reaching for him with the softest of embraces. _Tommy, I never thought I would be saying this but. You've made me genuinely proud today._ And as easily as that, the strings around his heart squeezed, the gut wrenching feeling in his stomach tightened and his mind went blank. Understanding, acceptance and loyalty; That's all he ever asked for from his friends. They would make promises, saying that they would stand by his side through each and every war, but, despite all of that; they ended up leaving, every single one of them ended up leaving him in the dark, not ever lending a helping hand or even bothering with keeping him company when he was on the brink of death.  
  
Except one.  
  
Who is Tommy to not go against his own morals for once? Who is he to refuse the man who has helped him for months on end, who comforted him when he cried, who stayed when no one else would. Who is he? He is no one. Nothing but the physical embodiment of a favor. A favor that he needs to pay back even if it costs him shame and disgrace from the ones he once considered allies and friends.  
  
..  
  
 _I'm so sorry.  
_ I'm so, so so fucking sorry.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 _"Y.. Yeah, I'll do it."_  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Your trust.

"Shit, man, how do you even breathe in this thing?"   
  
Tommy would grumble under his breath, irritated as he walked alongside the man that was leading him through the dark field, night sky watching over them with a chilling leer. Pressing a hand up against the mask that rested over his features, the teen would fix it up again for the fifth time under a minute, taking a short breath.  
  
"You get used to it pretty easily." Dream replied oh so nonchalantly, Stopping for a split second to look around and check, eventually glancing back over to the portal that the younger had created a while ago and gesturing over to it. "You can take it off, if you want."  
  
Understanding the motion almost instantly, the young soldier simply kept quiet for this short period of time and stepped into the transport, shutting his eyes as tightly as humanly possible. The feeling of nausea kicked in as quickly as he could recall and the sudden warmth enveloped him within seconds, a shudder running through the body of the boy as he'd then stumble forward, eyes snapping open. He was already in the nether with dream next to him, who wasted no time with walking over towards the bridge that was built ages ago.   
  
Tommy followed.  
  
"Well, like, I would but—" He's unsure as to why he is even hesitating. "What is it for anyway? does it make you all extra special n' shit? Gives you buffs? ? OH, IS THAT WHY YOU WEAR IT? YOU CHEATING MOTHERFUCKER THAT SHOULDN'T EVEN BE POSSIBLE!" Tommy continued with a bark, accusations being thrown left and right which made the elder squint his eyes and shift them awkwardly, hand moving to quickly shush the boy impersonating a rabid dog. He didn't want to attract any piglins or ghasts nearby.   
  
"It's not anything special." The masked man hummed out, hidden piercing gaze peeking over the lava that bubbled underneath them. He never liked looking at the Lava for a long time, it always faintly reminded him of the time when Tommy stood zoned out over the cliff, taking a step forward—  
  
  
( _".. Is it even worth it anymore?" A defeated voice would whisper out with a struggled hiccup, the body of the young warrior stood like a mannequin, dull eyes staring off into the escape below. Dream didn't exactly reply for the first few seconds, but then, he found the sympathy to finally speak up.  
  
"Of course it is, Tommy, c'mon, I know you think you're alone and all that, but you have me still. There's nothing to worry about as long as I'm around." Chuckling, he'd give Tommy's shoulder a quick playful nudge, which surprisingly, didn't earn him any reaction.  
  
They stood there for one more clear minute. Dream wanted to give Tommy time to clearly think about what he said, wanted him to consider the good side of things.  
  
Clay didn't understand how he didn't notice the tension that was rising in the air with each passing breath, didn't understand how he didn't notice the fact that Tommy's face was clearing away at his features, turning him into a shell of a person that once used to be.  
  
..  
  
Then, a crack of the red cliff, followed by a mortified yell of the god—  
  
_ **"TOMMY!!!--"  
  
** _He barely managed to grab the kid and haul him over against his side before the other's feet slid off of the cliff completely and he stumbled back against the stronger grip holding him, breathing shaky and rapid as he'd tremble with pure terror, previously empty sockets now wide and sharp. With panicked cursing under his breath, Dream's hold would tighten against Tommy's chest and he shuffled both of them back, making sure that the puppet he was holding wouldn't just start kicking and trying to jump back into the lava that waited under.  
  
"It's-" A cough, followed by a nervous wheeze. "It's not your time to die yet, Tommy."   
  
All he could hear afterwards as the bitter, yet grateful whisper of; "It's never my time to die."  
  
They stood there for another while, with Dream holding the younger in his safe embrace.)  
  
  
  
_"-id you give it to me then?"   
  
Snapping back into reality, Dream shifted his attention from the lava to the boy walking alongside him, Thinking for a moment after he managed to reconstruct what the other had just asked; how can he word this in a way that doesn't make him seem weak or sappy.  
  
"Well, I just.. gave to you as a sign of trust, I guess. To symbolize our friendship. I think you've earned it."   
  
At that, Innit could practically feel his heart skip a beat, but in a bad, bad way _—_ more like, he was punched with a shockingly wave of Euphoria. Sure, Dream has expressed how he valued Tommy as a friend numerous of times before but, physically getting something as pleasant as an identical, matching mask as a _present_ was nothing more than a way for the two to officially announce themselves as allies and trusted companions. And to top it all of, Dream also meant it as a sign of _trust_ , trust isn't easy to earn these days, especially with so many traitors running around and spying on close friend's for their own personal gain; being trusted by someone as powerful and graceful as Dream was nothing more than an honor. Tommy is surprised that he even got this far, but, he wouldn't be complaining, he wouldn't be complaining at all.  
  
With a giddy exhale, Tommy simply nodded his head proudly. "Amen to that, big man!"   
  
And so, they continued walking, soon enough reaching the second nether portal that would lead to the dream SMP.  
  
Tommy stopped right at the entrance, slowly curling his lips into an awkward straight line as he looked over at the hooded figure, as if he was asking 'So what now?' with only his eyes. Dream didn't exactly notice the expression, but he did meet with the blond's eye contact. "Alright, so, Let's go over the plan again. Need to make sure you actually know what you're doing." He began, patting his own pouch which popped up his rich inventory, hand hovering over a crossbow that quickly formed in thin air afterwards, Tommy fumbling over to barely catch it before it fell to the ground. " For the method; You'll be using the crossbow given to you to kill him, Aim for the head to make it quick. If you miss his head, that's fine, Just make sure to hit him, It has a poison of arrow so any part of the body should be good."  
  
Now that Tommy was actually hearing about how he was going to be killing Quackity again, he couldn't help but notice how the gut feeling instantly came back to hit him like a truck.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"I'll get him out of L'manburg grounds and into the dream smp lands near the south-west forest. I will be informing Tubbo that I'm taking him away to discuss the problems that we have been having between our territories and politics in general. While he's distracted, You'll get in position and aim."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"You fire when I raise my hand."   
  
  
A clear of his throat.  
  
"If they start questioning me about what happened, I'll say that a person that I couldn't identify attacked him and got away before I could take them down. They have little to zero reason to say that it's me considering that if I was the one to actually kill him, It'd be stupid. All of them saw me walk around with him, me taking him out in plain sight when there's so many witnesses around would be ridiculous."   
  
Tommy nodded his head with a quiet mumble that Dream couldn't exactly make out, he didn't care as much though. Letting his inventory fade away, the admiral glanced back towards the portal, breaking off the eye contact. "I'm asking this again, Tommy. Are you sure you can do this?" he asked with a low tone, making sure that he didn't raise his voice even in the slightest.   
  
"I-" A sharp inhale. "Mh. I can do it." _I don't know, I really don't know.  
  
_ "You're one hundred percent sure?"  
  
"Yeah." _I'm not. Please don't let me go there.  
  
  
_ "Alright, Tommy. Don't disappoint me." Dream murmured with a dry tone, stepping back into the portal without another word after. Letting his body fade into the overworld dimension. His trainee followed soon after, hesitation resting on his back, murmuring at him.   
  
And as the purple waves would take over him again, Tommy tilted his head up with half-lidded eyes, anxiety masked with the false confidence of the smile provided by the mask— His only goal was to finish off Quackity, save L'manburg and make Dream proud, maybe after this he will be allowed back on the Dream SMP grounds as well. That would be a nice treat.  
  
...  
  
But before that, he just needs to make sure that he doesn't somehow disappoint Dream. He doesn't know what he will do if he disappoints him.  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
"Wait here." Instructed Dream as he shushed Tommy down into a bush, looking around one more time before the man pulled his hood back up and got ready to head off. "Well Dream, take your time, It's not like we're going to be executing a guy." The boy fired back with a quiet, sarcastic laugh which got shut down quickly with Dream staring at him silently.  
  
"I'll be back in just a moment, make sure that the crossbow is properly loaded. Don't get caught or killed by a zombie." at his own last statement, Dream stopped for a split minute, pausing. Tommy knew how to defend himself against mobs, everyone did but- despite that, there was a small, looming side of him that urged him to take extra steps for safety. The inventory popped up and an object seemed to form in the masked man's hand. "Here, If anything happens, like- a creeper blows you up or something, just take this and haul ass." Grabbing the scarred hand of the other, he placed a golden apple onto his palm, backing off afterwards. "Again, dont get busted. That's the last thing that we want to be dealing with right now."  
  
Processing.  
  
"HOLY SHI-"   
  
"SH!!!—"  
  
"-iIiiiᵢᵢᶦᶦₜ.. " Turning deflated balloon, Tommy lowered his tone of voice again and grinned a toothy smile. "What the fuck, what the fuck-- thanks!!" Dream nodded. "You're welcome, now give me a second." Is all the teen heard before he saw the hooded figure turn away and head off into the distance, soon disappearing from his view behind a couple of buildings that stood proud and tall.  
  
It was weird to be on the dream SMP grounds without breaking the law, guess he could count this as a one-day visitation pass though, right? right. Huffing out a breath, Tommy leaned up against the tree and tapped his hands against the crossbow, making sure to keep a look-out as to not get ambushed by random zombies passing by. Though, mobs didn't exactly seem to be his main concern right now as the fact that L'manburg was so close yet so far away kept nicking at his brain, the knowledge of what was to come kept ripping his insides apart and the pure fear of messing everything up continued with toying with his brain and nerves, ruining him.  
  
And so, he would wait, moving his head back to start tapping it against the tree while at the same time gazing up at the darkened sky above. He never liked the dark, never enjoyed going out and exploring when there was nothing to see but the shadows enveloping each and every corner.   
  
  
  
( _"Tubbo?! Tubbo what the fuck happened?!" Tommy screeched out mid panic, instantly moving over to catch his friend who had stumbled into his house with an arrow sticking out of his shoulder and blood dripping down his head, which appeared to have a small gash. The smaller boy winced audibly, grabbing at his own arm and taking in deep breaths as to somehow try and calm his nervesa, he began to ramble, attempting to explain- "I-I wa s c oming over to give you a g ift and- it-" A whine as the burning sensation kicked in again against his leg, which was also completely tainted in red. "it wa s still da y s o i wasn't worried but . I got distracted with hel ping punz and. shi t, it got dark too q uickly and I couldn't make it here in time."  
  
Why didn't anyone try to help him? Weren't there supposed to be fucking barriers at this place to keep people safe?!— With reasonable anger bubbling up inside of him, Tommy couldn't help but quickly feel his irritation be overshadowed by pure worry. "Okay, okay, It's fine, that's fine! fuck, uh, I got you, hold on, I'll get you something, don't move a fucking muscle." Shifting his body weight to lean the boy against the nearby wall, Tubbo let out a quiet laugh, trying to light the mood. "I don't think I (can) move a muscle, Toms."   
  
Tommy ignored the comment and quickly headed off towards one of his chests to quickly look through. He was hoping and praying to god that he had either a spare golden apple or a healing potion, and luckily, he had at least two Gp's. Grabbing them, the boy rushed back over and practically shoved the food into his friend's mouth, who didn't protest and simply munched on the golden material, waiting for the affect to take place.   
  
__Watching the healing process slowly begin, Tommy's concern began to fade inch by inch, being overthrown immediately by boiling rage. This is why he hates going out in the dark, this is why he hates all the fucking mobs.)  
  
  
  
_ A tap against against the freezing ground underneath, gripping the tiny pieces of grass and ripping them off. Tommy began to take deep breaths as to prepare himself both mentally and physically, his uneasiness of sitting in the dark now one of his lesser important concerns. Dream was going to be here any second now with Quackity and Tommy had to be prepared for it.   
  
_Inhale. Four seconds in.  
Exhale. Seven seconds out.  
  
Inhale. Five seconds in.   
Exhale. Seven seconds out.  
  
  
  
  
_  
  
  


 _Inhale. Four seconds in.  
Exhale. Seven seconds out.  
  
Inhale. Five seconds in.   
Exhale. Seven seconds out._  
  
 _I don't understand why I'm so scared to do this. It's just big Q—_ He mentally scolded himself at that very second. _What the fuck do you mean 'iT'S just biG Q.', HE WAS OUR FRIEND, DICKHEAD. Are you forgetting that he helped you stop Wilbur from blowing L'manburg up the first few times?! Or was that just you, you fucking moron? How self-centered really are you?_   
  
Swallowing the lump growing at the walls of his throat, Tommy pushed his head back against the tree and looked up towards the sky once more, the dotted starts mocking him, laughing at him. Even the preparation period was difficult, he didn't know how the actual process would go. He remembers Dream continuously reassuring him that it felt like going to the doctors in a village to get a shot but, that didn't exactly help or comfort Tommy in any way, Tommy absolutely despised going to the doctors. He wished he could stab each and every one of them and then set their houses on fire.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
_Inhale. Four seconds in.  
Exhale. Seven seconds out.  
  
Inhale. Five seconds in.   
Exhale. Seven seconds out._  
  
 _Not that self-centered, I'm not even doing this to just please Dream or get power myself, or to even take out anger- I'm doing this only for the sake of L'manburg and Tubbo. If I don't go through with this, they'll just end up probably becoming as corrupt as Wilbur and get themselves killed. They should be grateful that I'm doing this. They should be fucking glad.  
  
"Is that really what you think?"  
  
  
  
  
_  
  
  
  
A jolt, followed by a panicked 'what the shit-' From Tommy, the shrunken pupils of the teen staring at his supposed best friend that was sat oh so calmly at his side, staring with utter judgment, uncertainty and worry.   
  
"Tubbo?" The call for the president came out as a quiet, careful mutter, as if it was still trying to stay careful due to their surroundings. "What are you.. why the fuck do you keep appearing out of nowhere?! .. " A hushed hiss, eyes narrowing into a glare that quickly faded as the expression on the brunette's furrowed and sketched into a more stern one, eyeing him down despite their height difference.  
  
 _"That's not the point, Tommy. You know you're being ridiculous right now."_ Tommy was just about ready to respond before he got shushed. _"I understand that you're trying to play the hero, I get it, but, this is not the responsible way to go about things. You're just going to be becoming a villain like Dream and Techno, and you hate those two! I'm sorry but, It's just.. really hypocritical and. It's- not going to help anyone."_  
  
 _Y'know, for someone that exiled me only because you were scared and put everything and everyone else above me, you talk a lot about helping people and fixing mistakes.  
_ ** _  
_** _ **"And you're lecturing him why-?"  
  
  
**_  
  
  
  
  
  


Yet another jolt, Tommy was now stuck between the two figures at his sides, arms hugging onto each other as to keep himself in his own personal bubble that was currently being completely ripped apart. **"Anytime he has done anything that you've said, it lead to nowhere. either that or it just messed you guys up even more. maybe just leave these sort of situations for the adults to handle, hm? I've got Tommy. I'm the one keeping him safe and protected right now, you have no right to intervene with the life of someone that you exiled."**  
  
The teen didn't know what it was but hearing the much louder voice of the elder stand up for him felt almost comforting, even if it was a part of his imagination. It wouldn't be a part of his fantasy much longer now anyway now that he had the mask.   
  
It was going to be okay.  
  
All of it was going to be okay.  
  
. . .  
  
Step.  
  
 _Step.  
_  
 ** _Step.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
_ _STEP.  
  
  
_** _Step.  
  
  
_ step.  
  
  
"Heyyyy, uhh, why are we out near a creepy ass forest again instead of, Y'know, holy lands like before?" A familiar voice would mutter out with a strained tone, a forced laugh visible through his words alone. Dream lightly chuckled out in response, little to no struggle or hesitation showing from him. "The holy lands are occupied for once surprisingly. Ponk decided that it was a great idea to hold a meeting about a new religion that he was starting. Though, the religion is just a business, really. Doubt anyone will join him." Ouch. Tommy didn't exactly care about punz- PONK. but. that offended him and he wasn't even close to the guy.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Yeah, yeah, okay, sure, of course, and my dick is 24 inches." Quackity would mutter out with a raise of a brow, giving the area another quick look around before the two would come to a stop in a dead clearing, the shield of the raven still held up high as the paranoia of the man was shining through clearly, rising the tension within the air.   
  
Another laugh from the masked man, it wasn't followed by any comments or any further snarky remarks.   
  
  
THUMP.  
  
 _T H U M P .  
  
 **TH - TH H U MP.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
**_  
After listening to the the two talk so nonchalantly for only a few seconds, the realization was quick to sink in and the comfort that once planted itself onto Tommy's shoulder faded. Quackity was here. _Quackity was actually here._ Pushing himself forward as silently as he could, Tommy made sure that his grip on the crossbow was as tight, clutching the weapon close to his chest as the teen would crouch down onto his knee, the shadows enveloping him again, inviting him into the dark from which he would watch the hooded figure and his old friend talk about something that he couldn't exactly hear about all too clearly due to the loud ringing in his ear.   
  
"-ou wanted to discuss a way we can fix the relationship between Eret's kingdom, El rapids and the Dream SMP?"   
  
"Yeah, Seeing as how we've, and I'm saying this lightly, moved on from our past arguments, I think it's time to finally make arrangements and start brand new. Who knows, maybe I'll even see El rapids as an official country instead of a small group too later on if this works out."   
  
_**Scchhhkk—**_  
  
Loading up the crossbow, Tommy held the weapon up and now moved to aim, the arrow pointed directly at the head of the former vice president, gaze sharp and precise. He doesn't know what it is but, he's more than sure that his heart is basically leaping out of his chest. His stomach is twisting in all sorts of ways and if it weren't for the fact that he has to keep silent right now, he is more than sure that he'd be throwing up on the spot.   
  
_Th- t H HH UMP.  
  
_ "Okay first of all thats the most terrible thing to say when you're trying to make peace with someone." Quackity muttered out out.  
  
His hand is getting shakier with each passing sentence that the parties exchange.  
  
"No, no, I know, but still. I'm trying to be honest here." Dream continued, cracking his head to the side ever so slightly and rolling his shoulders back to ease the tension. "The proposition that I have for your lands is that you move El rapids off of the general territory that L'manburg is on, plant it somewhere else and mind your business. For the protests that you and your group that have you been holding, though; That will have to come to a stop if you want your own independent land."   
  
Quackity looked like his entire bloodline was insulted by that one sentence alone. "You do realize that our main objective of even going against you in the first place was because of the fact that your king or whatever killed one of our men when we were protesting peacefully, right?"  
  
  
. . .  
  
  
 _Inhale. Four seconds in.  
Exhale. Seven seconds out._  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"I've asked Eret about the protests that you were holding, he claimed that you weren't simply being peaceful and easy-going, he said that you were being destructive with his property and basically turning the whole thing into a big bundle of harassment. And after he understandably got angry and decided to take action against it, you RAIDED his castle and griefed it. We've went over this, Quackity. You know everything I'm going to say and I know everything that you're going to blabber about. So just tell me what it'll be."  
  
A glare forms on the ravens face and he struggles to find proper words for a moment or two. On one hand, El rapids having its own independent land and it being legally safe for them to live in harmony without any issues sounded great and all that but _ **—**_ wouldn't it technically be going against George and what they had done for the man already? They fought for him, died for him, they've mentioned countless of times before how they wouldn't stop until George was made king again, so, all of this just seemed so .. confusing.   
  
It was confusing.  
  
"Dude you need to at least give me some time to think about shit like this- I- i mean it's like, a big thing, yknow? I need to talk to George and Karl and make sure that we're are in on the id-"  
  
"Aren't you the leader?"  
  
"I AM, I am! yeah, but-"  
  
"Then decide right now, I don't have much time on my hands Quackity, this week has been busy and WILL be busy."  
  
Tommy can hear the stutter in Quackity's words and the cough that held it all back. He doesn't understand. He doesn't understand why he wants to call Dream out. Doesn't understand why he wants to move over the crossbow and shoot Dream's leg just to make sure that Quackity gets away unharmed. It's all too overwhelming to think about. He wants to go home and sleep.   
  
"I can't just fucking decide right now out of _NOWHERE,_ MAN! You _NEED_ to give me at least a day or two think about something like this? ?"  
  
"Mmm." A doubtful hum of Dream's venomous words. Hand raising itself to scratch at the back of his covered head. "Alright, well, I guess I'll give it a chance, how does tomorrow 7 PM sharp sound for you?"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
It took a second but. _Dream raised his hand. He raised his hand and he was keeping it against his head. This was Tommy's moment to finally pull the trigger and end all of this once it for all._ Resting his finger over the trigger, Tommy would aim once more to quickly readjust his target, and lower the hole of his eye down to the crossbow to properly get his gaze straight. Now all he had to do was shoot the target.  
  
 _You're selfish, Tommy._ The voice would mutter again against his ear, pressing down onto his shoulders. _You're fucking selfish and immature. You couldn't do ONE single good thing for Tubbo or L'manburg, you ruined this for no one but yourself, buddy, you know that, right?_ A visible shiver, his head is lowering. _I know that Techno was technically a traitor but, you're becoming just like him by trusting Dream and killing off someone that thought of you as a friend._  
  
His entire body is shuddering now, hands barely managing to keep a proper hold of the crossbow despite his previous, stern grip.  
  
 _I don't understand why I can't just go home yet, Tubbo could have exiled me ages ago and this wouldn't have had to happen. Quackity wouldn't have to be put in danger like this and. I wouldn't have to prove jack shit to Dream.  
  
I wouldn't have to do anythi n g i could be living in my old house again and . not doing this .   
  
this. i.  
  
I dont want. this. I never wanted this. I lied when I said that I was ready to do it.  
  
  
_The crossbow crackles as his hold becomes more and more unstable.  
  
  
Fuck, _fuck, **FUCK.**_ _I can't . m o v e . I cant FUCKING MOVE. I d ont want to to this. I was wrong I was wrong please take it back i want to go home i. dont want to kill him. i cant kill him I cant take another fucking life please. I kknow i promised I know i know but . god. damn it god fucking damn it please don't be mad at me. I never wanted to . mess up this bad.  
_  
Tommy can't help but feel his dry eyes slowly get glazed over, vision blurring as the Teen sucked in a sharp breath and had to physically hold himself back from hiccuping up a breath stuck in his throat. His heart was pounding more than ever now, sweat building up at his temple. A silent wheeze to calm himself down, followed by his eyes locking back onto the scene, in which Dream had his head tilted to the side ever so slightly, staring straight towards the direction of the young trainee despite the dotted pupils generally looking at Quackity's direction.   
  
"Alright, that's- not much time but, yeah, Sounds cool I guess. Thaankss for the opportunity?"   
  
  
_No. no. nONONNONONONO PLEA S EE DONT GO AWAY. STAY . STAY IN ONE FUCKING PLACE I HAVE TO FINISH THIS.  
  
  
_ He can't breathe properly anymore, unstable fingers trying to aim again but failing desperately as his rapid movements caused nothing more than the crossbow to almost get unloaded with the arrow, causing a quiet yelp from the boy that was covered up almost too nicely by Dream coughing.  
  
 _pl e a s ei need to do this. oh my god no. nonono. work. work. work FUCKING . WORK.  
  
_ " .. Mhm." Dream hummed out after a good minute, the reply of the man delayed as the piercing gaze only got colder, Crushing Tommy underneath it.  
  
"Though, It's getting late so I should probably leave, Sap and Karl are waiting for me ykno',"   
  
_PL E ASE DONT FUCKING G O.  
  
_ "Yeah, sure. I'll be seeing you Tomorrow, Quackity." Another quiet response, hidden underneath the intention of pure malice.  
  
 _i t t w ont tlet me a i m.  
  
_ _"_ Alright! welp! Good talking to you good sir! I'll be seeing yyyyouu tomorrow!" A friendly fingerguns as the man takes a few steps back.   
  
_Q u a ck k i ty .  
  
_ "See you."   
  
  
_**STEPP.  
  
**_ _Step.  
  
s t e p  
  
s t e p .   
  
_And so, the Raven faded from both of their visions. Tommy, slowly blinking, dropped the crossbow against the floor and took a shaky breath in, utter _terror_ washing over his body as he desperately scrambled back and slammed his body against a tree, the crushing weight of the whole situation quickly grabbing a hold of Tommy as he let out a struggled breath and tugged down at his hair. _No, no no n o o n o HOW THE HELL DID YOU FUCKING ME E SSTHA T U P?!? ALL YOU HAD TO DO W A S P U LL THE TRIGG E R . THATS LITERALLY ALL YOU HAD T O DO YOU USELESS SON OF A BITCH.  
  
_ And through his rapid breathing, The teen heard and _felt_ another pair of footsteps approaching him, causing an absolutely mortified whine to come from him as he simply buried his head down and avoided eye contact at all costs.  
  
"Tommy."  
  
He's hyperventilating. can't. He can't do this _ **—**_  
  
"I' m m s orry, im so so fucking sorry, I don' t know what h a-" a weak gasp. " -a pp en ed. I dont know Im really fucking sorry, Im sorry-" He's scrunching himself up into a ball, hearing the other come closer. Fear. Fear is the only thing he can feel other than his muscles and arms restlessly spasming against his body to try and force him to get up and run. "I ff- f u cked u p im sorry, shit, SHIT. I'll make up to you I'll do my be st to make it up to y-"  
  
 _"Tommy."_  
  
"Dr e am im r- really sorry--"   
  
_"Get up, Tommy."_


	5. ( FANFICTION ART DUMP! ) pt. 1

Alright so this isn't anything important but today I sketched out my versions of both Tommy and Dream today! (the versions for this fic, I mean. ) And I wanted to share it w/ you guys !!! Hope you don't mind this page being dedicated to the sketches and doodles ;; !!! Anyway, here's the bad boiz !  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Also you can't see but he usually wears a green bracelet on his right wrist !!!! yes, its from Tubbo, yes, Im torturing myself with headcanons. <3  
  
He's also underweight but !!! willing to fight literally anyone and anything ( nothing personal tho :] )   
  
  
  
  
  
  
:gag_emoji:  
:pray_hands:  
  
  
And for an extra doodle have Tubbo and GLATT  
  
  



	6. Your wrath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this one is a little short !!! I have a specific plan for what I'm going to be doing with the next few chapters so >:]c please be patient w/ me !!

_( "Dream." A quiet voice would mutter out weakly, lowered by the fabric that pressed tightly against his mouth and muffled him. Dream, who was holding Tommy against his own strong grip, yet staring up at the nether roof with dull, exhausted eyes, let out a raspy hum and tilted his head down ever so slightly to give the boy a nudge. "Yeah?"  
  
They have been sitting like this for at least two minutes now, Dream tightening his hold whenever the blond would have another hysteric moment and kick against him to try and dart back into lava. Now it just seemed like he had given up, which the masked man was bluntly glad about, He didn't have the energy to deal with it.  
  
Shuffling to get into a different position or maybe even try to get away completely with a slow movement, the young warrior felt the hooded figure's arm that was once tugging him back finally relax for a moment, realizing that he was finally sinking back into his previous, less crippling state of mind. "I'm sorry, man." He apologized with a huff, rubbing at his eye and then proceeding to brush his hair back, feeling as the sweat stuck to his locks. "Don't know what the fuck happened there." Dream, who was now sat up straight, shifted his sight to the side and thought for a moment before speaking; "It's fine, We all have our low moments, Tommy, what matters is that you move past them and continue fighting for what's really worth though, alright? and, for the love of god, Just-" a sigh. "-Just don't try something like that ever again."  
  
...  
_  
_Tommy hated it. He hated how calm and collected Dream sounded at times, absolutely despised how every word of the man was laced with wisdom and faked sympathy, which would oh so perfectly disguise itself as care and love. But at the same time, it filled him with so much comfort. It made his stomach twist and turn, made his body hunch and would almost always make his mind, which was often so frantic and desperate for any sort of stability, relax. But, not relax to the point to where the intrusive thoughts of his would be able to come into play, no. more so to the point to where he was able to focus on tasks properly without any interruptions.  
  
"Alright, yeah, yeah, I— I won't." Then, there was another small moment of silence that aired through the two. They didn't share a single glance or a word for what felt like forever.   
  
The lava bubbled happily under them, and the now dirty blue hues of the survivalist moved over to watch as a magma cube accidentally jumped off of a cliff and right into the lava, making him narrow down his eyes into a suspicious glare as he leaned forward and stared down towards the direction that the creature fell into, watching as it slowly sunk down. It didn't even seem all that bothered, which made the boy let out a quiet snicker under his breath. Maybe lava really wasn't all that uncomfortable. "Okay big man, enough of being all depressing n' shit, let's go. I have a tower to build." )   
  
  
_As the purple waves faded away and the two stepped out, Tommy would anxiously tug at his arm and quickly suck in a sharp breath while scrambling right behind Dream, who was heading towards his tent without another word. "Dream, Dream, please- I-im sorry, man, I'm really fucking sorry, okay? ? I'm sorry, I know I fucked up, please hold on-" He reaches up a shaky hand to try and gently tug Dream back by his sleeve, which in return yearned a yelp as his wrist was yanked and tugged forward, body practically stumbling against the entrance of the tent as the hand that was grabbing his wrist now tightened it's deadly grip, the smile of the mask staring down at him. "Waitwaitiwaitwaitwait!! !! WAIT! LET'S JUST TALK ABOUT IT, YEAH?! _— L-LET'S JUST TALK!-"  
_  
For a moment, just a moment; Dream stopped, and his grip on the blond's wrist softened ever so slightly, painted dots staring straight forward despite the sudden change in action.  
  
  
"Alright, man? .. let's just talk it out. It's fine, it's fine-"   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"..."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"..."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
A scoff, followed by an audible smile.  
  
  
"Do you think this is some sort of fucking joke, Tommy?   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
There is a noticeable pause from the boy, and he tries to take in a deep inhale to scramble for a response, hand shaking. "Well, no, no- I don't think- I never saw this as a joke-" Tommy muttered out as quickly as he could, noticing that the man was now turning to face him. Despite the lack of a large height difference, the stare of the masked figure always managed to make him feel so _small._ So _Weak.  
  
_"Well, if you didn't think that it was a joke, WHAT THE _FUCK_ WAS ALL THAT ABOUT THEN ... ? " A raise in tone, causing a flinch from the young warrior as he'd back away and further into the tent, Making Dream only take a step closer. "I trusted you with something for once, Tommy. We _TRAINED_ FOR THIS! You-" An annoyed groan. " You _PROMISED_ that you were going to be able to do this, Tommy. You looked at me dead in the eyes after I countlessly asked you if you were sure and you kept saying _YES!"_ Another step closer, and the Innit can practically feel himself press against the shredded stick that was holding one of the ends up for the tent, bumping against it. "I- .. I wanted to trust you with this. And after so long I thought that maybe you would be able to do something for me, that you'd finally be able to help me with something _— One click of a trigger, Tommy! That's all you had to do!_ PULL A SINGLE TRIGGER AND IT WOULD HAVE BEEN OVER WITH!"   
  
"I know, I'm sorry-"  
  
" No, I don't think you are! You're probably just-" A frustrated huff came from the man and he rubbed at his mask for a split minute, trying to restrain himself. "I just _don't understand_ why you would continuously keep agreeing to do something like this when I kept asking if you were up for it or not. _literally_ all you had to do was say no once and I would have gone off to find someone else to help me. I wouldn't have forced you into killing Quackity, Tommy. So I don't get it if you want me to actually get your side on this. because I already know your side! You just chickened out at the last second because of the fact that you still think that he's your FRIEND!"  
  
_He was.  
  
_"He never once visited you, none of them did. He didn't even stand UP FOR YOU! I was, quite frankly, the only one that came here everyday to make sure that you were alright, Tommy. They did _jack shit. The least you could do for me was this ONE thing._ I never even ask too much from you! Only your armor, and hell, I even let you keep it sometimes! Sometimes I give you stuff as well! but you're still choosing people that left you in the dust over me. I don't get it." Hesitating, Dream let out a quiet breath and tilted his head forward to further loom over Tommy, crushing him under his gaze. "Answer me this, am I just not that good of a friend? I've genuinely tried everything that I could, Toms. There's nothing that they have done that I haven't done for you. Do you want me to leave just because you still feel bad over our previous arguments? Do you want me to fucking leave, Tommy? You can wait for them to come back if that's what you wanna do. I genuinely won't mind! Just tell me if you want me to leave."  
  
That's _— "N-_ No, nono no non ono n o nono n o - wait, I- no I don't want you to leave, I never wanted you to leave, I don't- don't leave, please don't, I just-"  
  
_"You just what?"  
  
_He can feel himself starting to twitch with every few muttered words, both with fear and utter frustration directed at everything, as well as himself. reaching a hand up to shove his scarf against his mouth, the trembling of his knees making him inch back yet again, feeling cornered; Just like a wild animal. "I just wanted- I- I thought- we-" A shaky exhale followed by an uncontrolled shake of his head. "We were friends before and- I- I KNOW that he didn't stand up for me, I kn-n ow that he betrayed me and didn't visit me but we- were friends before, and- he has fought by my side- I- it wouldn't be right we stood by my side when we-"  
  
_When we went to war. When we went to war against Schlatt.  
  
_Tommy shudders as he remembers the delighted yell of Dream as the explosions burst open the ground they were standing on, blowing every soldier back. "When we fought against you, and- Techno- and - Schlatt, he was with me- He was with us, with my nation _— He was there when we fought against dickheads like you. "  
_  
As quickly as that, both Dream and Tommy froze up in one spot, and without another word passing by, Tommy could instantly feel himself start to tremble as what he had just said started to dawn on him as Dream slowly pushed himself back and cracked his hand against the back of his head, a blatantly forced laugh coming from him, which caused a stuttering breath to escape the shivering blond in front of him. This isn't good, _This isn't good at all he's pissed. He's pissed.  
_  
It was in the heat of the moment, an impulsive reach for any sort of confidence. a single mistake. Yet, why did it feel like he signed his own deathwish?  
  
"Tommy.."  
  
"I didn't mean to say that, I didn't mean to say it like that, I-"  
  
" _Tommy._ "  
  
"I GENUINELY DIDN'T MEAN IT IN THAT WAY!!- I- Don't - I don't know what came over me, I'm sorry, I'm really fucking sorry, I'm sorry."  
  
"Grab the treasure that we got a few days back, bring it to the house. Get your armor ready."   
  
Dream would quietly order, stance not changing before the man slowly turned and without another word left the tent, leaving Tommy alone to freak out in his own little bubble of utter terror, anxiety and dread. See, It wasn't often that the boy was absolutely terrified whenever he was going to get his belongings blown up, he was used to it by now, it was like a daily routine; wake up, work, talk to Dream, work on a goal again, get his stuff destroyed and then go to bed. but, at the same time, when these moments of destruction are fueled by pure rage instead of kindness and courtesy, it becomes a whole different sort of experience. an experience in which you value your life a little bit more. And because of that; Tommy never enjoyed making Dream upset to this point, never liked it when he pushed his buttons until he would finally break and put away his caring tendencies just because some kid that he was showing genuine help to wasn't grateful enough. It always made him feel guilty, disappointing Dream in _general_ made him feel guilty.  
  
But, y'know what? As long ͢͟Dream d̕̕i̴̷͘͝d̷̢҉͝n̡'̵͝t̸͝ ̷̷̨̧͢d̷̴̨͡į̴͘d҉̧̨n͏͜'̴͢҉͠t҉̴̷͢ ̴̡͏̡g̸̢͠e̢̛t̨͞͝ ̷̶̕͟ţ̷o̧͟͞҉o͏͜ ͠҉͘a̶͢͞͏̴n̶̸̡̕g̕҉̡r̶̢̕͡y͢͞, Tommy would be okay. Just getting a few pieces of items back to the man was going to be no problem at all. Everything would fix itself, it'd all be fine. With reckless and quick movements, Tommy would quickly open up the chest that he had been storing everything in, taking out the small treasures that the two found only a few days ago. Gripping them tightly to his chest, Tommy would stumble out of the tent with a kick of his heel, a shudder running down his spine as with another look of hesitation, he'd walk towards the house where he was ordered to head, eventually arriving at the entrance where Dream stood near, watching the mushroom cow that the boy had rescued ages ago and has been using as a food resource.  
  
"Hah, um.. yeah, he's-" His mouth is a straight line, trying to avoid eye contact as he stared only at the animal, feet glued to the ground. "he's a funky dude, eh? Today he was rolling on the ground like a crackhead n' shit, It was pretty funny." Everything that he said came out as nothing but an awkward mumble, causing him to basically cringe at himself. Dream, on the other hand, didn't even bat an eye as he rose the tip of his boot and tapped it against the dirt underneath, not saying a word. and despite the silence that loomed through the air, Tommy almost instantly got the hint and he gave a defeated nod, walking over. The masked man backed off as Tommy crouched down and dug his hands against the dirt to create a hole.  
  
"There, i'll- hold on." The young warrior grumbled, taking off his helmet and then working to remove the chestplate as well as the leg and ankle braces, dropping them into the hole with little to no pause, the treasures following quickly after it. "Alright, that's- that's all I have on me right now." He'd continue, standing up and backing away, arm shifting itself so he could reach back and nudge the cow away from the hole that he had dug, not wanting the impact to get to the innocent animal. After standing there like a statue for what seemed like forever, Dream turned and opened up his inventory, the TNT forming in his hand within the split second as he'd place it over the hole, backing away himself afterwards. Swaying his hand over his shoulder, a loaded bow appeared in his hand and he pulled the string back, aiming.   
  
CLICK!  
  
_SSSHCCTT—  
  
  
_Tommy shuts his eyes, and tries to shut out of the noises of the outside world.   
  
As quickly as that, the loud explosion boomed through the air, managing to knock Tommy back despite the measures that he took to brace himself. causing the teen to practically swing his arm around his dear cow to keep himself standing. And as he stood there with trembling hands and shaky breaths, the eyes of the soldier slowly peeking open as he saw Dream continuing to simply stand there, staring down at the hole. Letting himself loosen up and away from the mushroom creature, the boy nervously laughed and tried to shuffle his way over silently, dirt already readied in hand to cover up the mess-   
  
"Let me just-"  
  
A hand reaches out and grabs his wrist again, startling Tommy. That contact, however, didn't last too long, as Dream swiftly let go and crouched down to the enlarged hole that was still crumbling, dotted eyes of the mask staring blankly at the small, second opening that the explosion had created. an opening that was leading to darkness, in which a faint view of a wooden wall could be seen. The sight was small, almost impossible to notice but, somehow, the masked man had managed to take a note of it immediately.   
  
It took Tommy a blink to realize what Dream was looking at - and his heart sank. "AYYEEE, AYE! Dream, DREAMM! Look! LOOK! Henry Jr is spinning again- he's on drugs, dude! HE'S ON FUCKING FRUGS- DRUGS! I MEAN DRUGS!" Trying his absolute best to grab a hold of the man's arm and drag him away, he was almost instantly brushed off and the hooded figure crouched down , kicking at the sides of the hole to resize it once again, leaning down into it afterwards once he made sure that it was big enough for him to not get stuck, leg raising itself to kick at the wood which got knocked down loudly. Tommy who was still stood at the top, could practically feel himself freeze in one spot.   
  
_The room with the chests.  
  
_. . .   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Dream?" He whispered out, crouching down into the hole and right after the man, who was now instead of the little area and opening up each and every chest, looking through the objects that laid hidden once. "Are you okay?" Tommy tried, dropping onto the floor and now anxiously watching as the looming figure of his friend slowly stopped, glancing over at him. "This isn't what you think, Dream, I promise-" He tried again as the TNT was placed around the room, causing a panicked jolt from the blond as he'd dart to quickly open up a chest and reach inside to grab a few precious pictures, tucking them into his back pocket as swiftly as he could while even more of the explosives were placed in, earning a shriek from the young party as they were immediately set off and he huddled himself into a corner to brace for the impact.   
  
( _"I'm your only friend, Tommy.")  
  
_Tommy felt his weight move and slam into the wall as the impact aired, destroying each and every chest that stood. It was all over, Dream was going to kill him, he was going to kill him. He fucked up. He fucked up so bad. Not daring to open his eyes, the brit's hunching forward as he'd barely catch himself, heart pounding against his weakened chest. A weak wheeze, which he had attempted to disguise as a laugh came and the shaken blues glanced up again, a fabricated smile now on his face as he'd try to ease the situation.  
  
"Dream, Dream, cmon- This wasn't-"  
  
"Drop all of your remaining stuff into a hole."  
  
_("I'm doing this for you.")_  
  
"What- _" No, this wasn't fair, this wasn't fair at all. he wasn't even going to use anything in these chests against Dream, why was he even mad?!_ "No, no! I- No, man! I don't want to-" For the first time in two months, he finally had enough courage to speak up against this usual routine. The only time he had managed to protest even when completely driven by fear and adrenaline. Sure, before he had often grinded for armor and tools just for Dream to burn them and feel satisfied but those .. those were specifically made for that! These were _HIS!_ _HE WORKED FOR THEM FOR HIMSELF.  
  
Step.  
  
_"I don' _—"  
  
_Then, all he could feel was a pulsing pain in his pain in his knee which swelled and burned within seconds, dropping him to the ground. He didn't have a chance to react as Dream grabbed a tuft of his hair and slammed his head against the rock wall mercilessly, causing Tommy to cry out with a struggled cough and instantly begin his blabbering of pleas. "WAITWAITwaitaitwaitwait- fu ck- I'm sorry- I'll give you my other set of armor?, I'll give you my sword too, I'll-"  
  
"Everything." Dream corrected.  
  
Tommy swallowed the growing lump in his throat and tried with all the remaining strength that he had not to let tears glaze over his ears, inventory popping open right next to his trembling hand as he physically felt the man above him shift to grab a pickaxe, which momentarily, he thought was going to get swung at his head. instead, though, Dream dug the hole right next to Tommy's body, which prompted the other to swiftly begin dropping all of his unnecessary belongings quickly, pace quickening as he felt the grip on his locks tighten, threatening another hit.   
  
When he was finished, Dream finally let go and let him sit up, taking a few steps away from the blond as the TNT was placed again and lit without any remorse showing through his actions. All the Innit could do was watch this time, grateful that he wasn't killed off right then and there.   
  
With his last remaining belongings blowing up, Tommy felt the terror kick back in as he'd slowly push himself up to his feet despite his pulsating headache, trying to inch his back towards to the main opening of the room, watching all the while the masked man followed his movements. "You do understand that this was nothing but the fucking icing on the cake, right, Tommy? First you mess up literally- EVERYTHING! with the Quackity thing and now I find out that you've been HIDING things from me! Literally hiding shit from me!"   
  
"I'm sorry, I don't- I only wanted my own stuff, I swear-"  
  
"Why did you _even make_ _this room?_ What were you going to use these things for? To try and kill me? Rebel against me? Set something up?  
  
_none of those things, He didn't want to do any of those things, ever-_  
  
"No, no! again, I just- wanted to have .. things. I wanted to have things that I could keep and-"  
  
"Tommy I WOULDN'T HAVE EVEN TAKE SOME OF THE THINGS IN THESE CHESTS ! All you had to give me EVER was armor and tools sometimes! THAT'S ALL! AND YOU STILL SOMEHOW FUCKED THAT UP!" Something snapped in that very moment, And Dream took a deep breath in, pushing past Tommy and heading out of the opening, not minding as the Innit was quick to scramble behind him. "I'm sick and tired of trying to teach you everything, Tommy. After I give you my TRUST and HELP, You have no fucking right doing this to me. No god damn right." The low voice of the elder growled out and Tommy attempted to speak again, only a weak apology coming from him as he kept on doing nothing but watching. He didn't have power, he didn't have anything.  
  
"I'm sorry, can't we just have a chat about this, man? Come on, I'm really sorry- I'm really, really sorry, Dream."  
  
Dream, again, didn't reply, instead, he pushed open the door to the house and headed in, causing Tommy's panic to rise up to the roof as he quickly ran in after his supposed ally, chest falling in quick gasps of inhales and exhales as he would frantically watch the TNT get placed back down. "No, nonono no, wait, wait please, Dream?- Dream- please-"  
  
_SSHCKKKK—  
  
_"NO! NO, GHOSTBUR BUILT THIS, DON'T-" Tommy couldn't do anything anymore, he was shoved out of the house and was basically forced to watch as it went up in flames and Dream stepped out oh so nonchalantly, glaring down at him through the masked gaze. Another wheeze, and he grits his teeth, standing up straight again. "Logstedshire- no, w h y-?! WHY THE FUCK-"  
  
"It's time you learn your lesson, Tommy." A much louder, booming voice interrupted, laced with pure disappointment and malice. "From this point on, You will not be allowed in the nether, and NO ONE; will be allowed to visit you. Am I understood? It's time you start fresh and work your way back up to getting that trust.  
  
"Dream I said I was sorry-"  
  
"Sorry.. Doesn't cut it, Tommy. Get out or get blown up with the rest of this place. I'm giving you 5 minutes to say goodbye to your tent and your cow."  
  



	7. His mercy.

( _"Tommy! Toms, I brought food like you asked for, here-" Tubbo would happily chirp out, shuffling to sit down next to his friend on the bench and then offering at least twelve pieces of stake, which were quickly equipped into the boy's inventory. Looking over with a toothy smile, Tommy kicked his legs up onto the fence and leaned back further to stretch, arm leaning over ever so slightly to give his friend a grateful nudge. "Thanks, big man." He huffed out under his breath, taking out the steak and munching down on it as if it was a snack.  
  
It was a nice day today, the sun was out and shining brightly. There weren't any arguments and wars going around, Wilbur was working away on the lands of L'manburg while Tommy was on a break and Phil was going to visit in a week, everything was coming together pretty nicely. Hell, even Techno was resting at his own house, creating what he called 'the ultimate weapon of destruction.'- and sure, that may sound scary and all that but, Tommy was reassured quickly after that it would only be used for farming; which was pretty weird, but, oh well, Pressing on the subject further would get Tommy kicked out.. again.  
  
The green motherfucker wasn't anywhere to be seen either, neither were his little underdogs, George and sap. But, Tommy wouldn't ever call George himself an underdog, that man was god himself but in another form, deceiving everyone. Being friends with him was nothing but a blessing.   
  
"Say, Tubbo, You don't have a house, do you?" The blond questioned with a raised brow, peeking over at the brunette who was looking away and into the sunset that painted the sky in bright colors. "Well, I- hm, well, no, not really. I just sleep over at people's houses sometimes whenever they allow me. I've been staying with ponk recently, he's been lovely, actually! Didn't really expect it." Tommy physically cringed. "Ugh, punz? Why him? Isn't he like dream's bitch or something?"  
  
"Ponk, Tommy, not Punz-"  
  
"Same person, man."  
  
Tubbo let out a small light-hearted scoff at that, leaning back just like the other next to him, muscles finally aching to relax as he'd press against the bench and exhale quietly, half-lidded hues continuing to watch the scenery unfold in front of him. Not managing to enjoy the moment for too long, Tommy spoke up again with his mouth full of chewed up steak, attention shifting from trying to take in the moment to asking Tubbo obnoxious questions that would get him absolutely nowhere. "You can move in with me? Those guys aren't even that interesting, plus I'm way cooler, and I'm your best friend? You can take Vik's old room, I'm not really using it for anything."  
  
Stopping for a split second, the honey hues shifted from the sky and he looked at Tommy, head tilting as if he were a confused puppy. "Really? You want me to stay at your house?" Now that, that came out as a smug remark more than anything, as the mocking, soft smile would quickly sketch upon his features, causing the Innit to almost instantly glare with a wrinkle of his nose. "I'm just offering, dickhead! I don't WANT you to stay at my house, It's just an OPTION! You don't even have to take it if you don't want, christ!" He'd grumble, gaze averting to avoid eye contact.   
  
"And yet I'm the clingy one." Tubbo snickered. "Sure, Toms, I'll move in but, uh, I have to pack all the stuff I've left at ponks house." He'd continue with a thoughtful hum, tapping against his chin. That gave Tommy enough to work with as his smile turned into an excited grin and he leaned forward away from the bench, energy quickly punching him in the gut. "I'll help!!"  
  
"Alright then, we have that settled! thanks again for letting me stay, oh your highness, I will forever be grateful for this act of kindness." Tubbo can already feel Tommy's stare turn into one of pure annoyance and hatred, but, he didn't comment on that. Setting off a bomb like Tommy would do nothing but cause trouble. "I'm not joking though, like, genuinely, Thanks."  
  
A happy trail of nods came from the soldier, and he clicked his tongue proudly. "You're very welcome."  
  
Looking back to the sky one last time, Tommy raised a confused brow and watched as the moon shined through the darkened sky. How did it get dark that fast?  
  
"What the fuck-? Hey, Tubbo?"  
  
. . .  
  
"Tubbo?"  
  
A turn of his head to look at his companion, blinking, he realized;  
  
He's not here. )   
  
  
  
He never really was here.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
That's right. It was time to finally return to reality.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Reality, filled with so much hard cold truths.   
  
  
_Tommy can only ever faintly remember Wilbur speaking of the lowest points of humans when grief becomes so powerful that it's able to yank a person away from the real world and sink them deep into a state of nothingness, making it practically impossible to reconnect or even distinguish fantasy with what was truly there, taking away the sight of a possible new future only to feed its own greedy needs. He never exactly believed the man, thought that everything he spoke about was nothing but a bunch of poetic rambles that he thought of overnight. But now? Now he wanted to reach back over to tug on the man's sleeve and ask him a single question.  
  
 _How do you get rid of grief, Wilbur?  
  
_ _What do you do when you've disappointed everyone and have nothing else to look forward to? Must you have a strong heart to push through all of the struggles the life forces you to face? The ability to fight, defend, or even_ hide? Tommy didn't know the answer, he couldn't even pretend to be his elder brother and answer his own curiosities to save his life.   
  
And so, the defeated soldier sat silently on the tower that he had built, hands gripping onto the edges tightly as the once so lively baby blues of his would stare down towards the monochromic river that was swaying from side to side naturally, inviting him with cold whispers of praise and comfort. The rivers, lakes and the seas never sounded like the burning bubbles that one time had managed to take a proper hold of Tommy to embrace him with the amount of love and care that the boy himself couldn't express; They were far more quiet, silent. graceful as dancing ballerinas with their movements, their bodies cold yet so warm at the same time. They would always bicker to Tommy with their lullabies, promising the sweetest of endings and the happiest of sunrises.   
  
They were nothing like Lava, whose voice was loud enough to shake the walls, they were nothing like the fierce attacks that would always draw Tommy in it, nothing like the booming noises of magma and deadly entities all around.  
  
Bluntly, he liked the differences that the two had, and would always relax once he remembered that both of them would be willing to take him in.  
  
They're so forgiving, so voiceless and prepared to look past each and every mistake of his.  
  
So unlike the only remaining, real friend of his; who had burnt down his house yet again and even went as far to paint the ground with the slain blood of his pet.   
  
All of his efforts, reduced to nothing.  
  
...  
  
 _("It's fine, We all have our low moments, Tommy, what matters is that you move past them and continue fighting for what's really worth though, alright?")  
  
_ Continue fighting for what? There's nothing else to fight for. _You hate me, I can't even continue the war for you.  
  
("Just don't try something like that ever again.")  
  
Why? Why do you- Why do you even still fucking WANT ME AROUND?! I don't get it. I GENUINELY DON'T GET IT. I HAVE DONE LITERALLY NOTHING BUT MAKE YOUR LIFE LIVING HELL. I KEEP- RUINING EVERYTHING YOU WORK FOR. Shit, I'm a fuck-up, I'm nothing but a god damn- and- AND I said that I was sorry, I apologized and I gave him everything, Why can't he see that i'm-  
  
("Sorry.. Doesn't cut it, Tommy.")  
  
What does then?! WHAT DOES CUT IT? DO YOU WANT TO TAKE CONTROL OF MY LAST LIFE? IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT? You keep coming here to watch me, to make sure I'm okay, so- why do you say shit like that? it doesn't.. make sense. Why do you want to watch me and be around me if you find me so destructive? To make sure I don't get out of control?  
  
..  
  
. . .  
  
Is that actually..— no, no. Surely not. He only ever came here to hang out with me since I'm was so cool and- came here to make sure that that he- I- was doing alright, was safe, healthy. That's right.  
  
('No one can visit you. Not until you've learned your lesson.')  
  
But then why do you not want them to visit me? you mentioned me finally learning my lesson and maturing but, I don't even- I don't even get that many visitors, why the fuck would you completely take them away?  
  
...  
  
Did I mess up that bad? Am I that big of a danger to be around, that big of a fucking annoyance?  
  
  
"You're not, Tommy. Come on, stop thinking like that, big man." _Tubbo's voice would murmur in a low, gentle tone, wavering in front of him. icy, dull eyes glanced back up and stared as the brunette only ever moved closer, placing a hand on his shoulder. Tommy, who didn't feel anything, simply blinked his half-lidded eyes and shook of his head, muttering. _If I'm not that big an annoyance, people would have visited me already, Tubbo, YOU would have visited me already, but, you didn't! and there's a reason, there's a clear fucking reason- it's me! I'm the reason for EVERYTHING! EVERY SINGLE FUCKING THING THAT HAS HAPPENED, ITS BECAUSE OF ME! HOW FUNNY IS THAT?!  
  
"You.. can't blame yourself for everything that has happened so far, Toms. And.. I know I haven't been here in a while but, it's not because I hate you completely- It's not. It's just cause I can't be near you right now."  
  
.. What? _A narrow of his darkened hues, he's now staring at his friend dead in the eyes, expression disturbed and bothered as guilt would shine over his features almost immediately. _"Look, man, I- I love you. Well, I loved you but. again, you're.. a liability despite everything, I can't be seen around you or it'll put L'manburg in danger again if Dream sees us. You understand my reasoning behind that, don't you?"  
  
Yeah, I get that but-  
  
 **"But what?"**_ Dream's voice murmured from behind his shoulder, elbow resting against Tommy's free shoulder. _**"He told you why he's not coming here, your whole existence just in general puts the country that you care about in danger."**_ A wince from the boy. _ **"And you already know that Skeppy is going to give me one of the discs, your little goal won't ever be complete. Fucking give it up already and focus on what's actually important."** What's important ..? **" Oh. Yeah, i forgot about that part, nothing in your life is really important right now, right? Hell, there was one thing that did matter, which was me, and you completely screwed that up for yourself."  
**_  
Tommy can't hear Tubbo anymore, but the river is getting louder.  
  
 **"You said you wanted to be a hero one time, right Tommy? You know why Lmanburg is weak? It's because you're still here. It's because the discs still matter - and they matter because of you."  
  
** Louder and louder, screaming out of his name.  
  
 **"** **Mayb** **e it's time for you to finish your little reign and join Wilbur, he's been waiting for you."  
  
** _Wilbur, he's waiting for me? .. but ghostbur is here. he- . . . I dont know. I thought you didn't me to repeat this sort of thing, Dream-  
  
_ **"What? no, no, no no. I didn't want you doing something like this around me. Not when I was watching."  
  
** Tubbo is gone, He can't see anything anymore. It's all a blur of black, white and green.  
  
 _But, I'm-.. mmm. I don't know-I don't think-_  
  
 **"You did this before. Just lean forward and you'll be fine. Keep your legs up so you don't land with your feet first, that activates the spell to keep you protected and lets the water absorb all of your damage."  
**  
 _No, I know- I know that but I don't think- I'm on my last life, I don't know about this, I really don't kn-_  
  
 **"I didn't ask."  
  
  
  
. . .  
  
  
**despite the visible and audible struggle that the teen gave, he couldn't help but scream as his fingers which once dug tightly around the ledges released their grip and his body fell off of the surface that was keeping him grounded. one leg forcing itself to lower.   
  
  
  
  
And so he fell.  
  
  
the air around him was thick and pressing against him, trying to keep him up.  
  
  
And he fell.  
  
  
The sky looked like a tornado as his vision spiraled, and he felt his eyes slowly lose sight.  
  
  
And he fell.  
  
  
His body felt like an anvil dropping onto a criminal's head for execution.   
  
  
And eventually, when he took a breath in-  
  
  
  
  
 _CRASH—_  
 _  
  
 **C R A C K—**  
  
  
  
_

* * *

_  
  
( ...  
  
  
Drip.  
  
  
Drop.  
  
  
Drip.   
  
  
Drop.  
  
  
Drip.  
  
  
Drop.   
  
  
  
-Went the water soaked hair of the small boy, as he stood there awkwardly, fighting back at the buzzing head of his and trying not to mind his deteriorating vision, while at the same time trying to listen whatever the two voices were talking about, hand on his shoulder keeping himself stable as he'd occasionally bump his head against it, causing the figure behind him to give him a gentle nudge and wake him back up.  
  
  
Honestly, Tommy can't even remember much. All that he recalls is going to a small village with his brothers and then seeing some tabby cat circle him, which then caused the blond to quickly get the idea of adopting it. Turns out chasing a stray cat didn't always end with good and happy times. With another mumble, Innit wiped at his eye again, ignoring how the blood trickled down his forehead.  
  
"Alright, alright, let me explain .. " A distant voice of a familiar tried nervously, chuckling with Tommy looking up, the man avoiding eye contact as he would instead stare at the opposite, larger party, who had his arms crossed over his chest.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Go on?" The figure mumbled, raising a brow with doubt.   
  
"So, what happened wasss .. all of us three were in the village, and Techno was trading with the villagers to get the brain like you wanted."   
  
He began explaining, the shakiness of his voice, mixed in with the nervous chuckles that'd he give out did not make him seem all too confident.   
  
"And, I, wanting to be a good son, decided that I was also going to buy you a gift, soo.. because of that, I turned away for at least 2 seconds to trade with another villager while telling Tommy to stay in ONE place and not let go of my hand."  
  
"Mmmhm?"  
  
".. He ran off the moment I turned around and started chasing some ugly cat. tripped near a cliff and fell into the lake. Bumped his head against a rock."  
  
"And your noodle arm didn't have enough strength to grab him?"  
  
Slowly beginning to tune them out, Tommy leaned back again and nudged his head against the nearest thing possible, far too exhausted and tired to physically try and do anything.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
With a shuddering exhale, the young boy felt his knees slowly become weaker and weaker with each passing second, a muffled whine coming from him as he'd blink his eyes repeatedly, trying to rid of the dizziness that was starting to wash over him. While doing so, he heard the voice of his guardian speak up again, gesturing to his current armrest;  
  
"Take him to his room, I'll get to him in just a second, have to grab a healing potion from the back."  
  
Tommy, who didn't hear any sort of reply, felt himself slowly be lifted off of the ground and into the arms of the figure, usually, he would scream and kick around as if he was getting kidnapped but, for once, he had little to zero energy, which led him to simply closing his eyes and reaching his hand up to cover to rub at his forehead again, before burying it against the shoulder of the party.   
  
And as the two began ascending up the stairs, the blonde heard a light snicker above him, followed by a comment of:  
  
"Ykno', You're way less annoyin' like this. No offense."  
  
Oh how Tommy wishes he was strong enough to completely mess his face up and break his bones.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Man, fuck..yhou . " He managed after a bit, hearing as a door opened and the two entered a warm room, which he recognized as his. With a 'tsk', the man shuffled the young warrior closer and headed over to the bed, readying it so that he could lay the boy down and not cause a ruckus at the same time.  
  
"Yup, Tolerate you too. Now relax for a bit, Phil's going to come and heal you up soon, don't throw a tantrum."  
  
As if he ever even throws tantrums. That's a child thing to do, and he? he is a big man.   
  
Deciding not to protest, Tommy closed his eyes again once more and slowly hunched forward again, leaning onto the hold as his headache continued to ache, the humming of the figure above being the only source of vocal comfort he could cling onto.  
  
Blurred safety.  
  
That's the only way he can describe his situation right now. Blurred safety and euphoria of not having to worry about the outside world and the dangers that lurk. He didn't need to do anything anymore. he could simply lay back, relax and let himself feel vulnerable for once.  
  
  
  
. . .  
  
  
. . . .  
  
  
. . . . .  
  
  
  
Vulnerable as the blood once again continued to trickle down his head.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
. . .  
  
  
  
  
  
_


	8. His dignity.

_Squint ..  
  
"So what you're telling me is, you're afraid of women."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
_ _A loud sigh is heard from the other side of the room, annoyance clear as day lingering in his voice. "No, Tommy, I'm not afraid of women." Came the reply, monotone as always as the figure flipped another page from the book that he was reading, or, well, was trying to read. "If you're not afraid of women, why did you walk away from the lady that we saw two days ago in d' village without saying anything, hm? h m? you seem like a big puss., man."  
  
_ With a sharp inhale, _the book is shut and the elder blue hues peeked over to stare Tommy down, which instead of an intimidated shiver earned him a childish, smug snicker. "She was a scammer, Offering trades that were too good to be true and thinking that I was going to fall for it. so, I didn't run away, I just wasn't stupid. Though, you should know plenty about that, hm?"  
  
It took Tommy a good second to properly process what was said, and the very second that he realized, his mouth formed into a 'o' and he glared with the hatred of a thousand suns. "Dude, you fucking suck." Then, there's a light laugh. "Who did you even learn that sort of language from?" There was a small passing of silence, and the expression of the trainee turned into the physical sketch of Moyai. Right, Phil and Wilbur.   
  
"Yeah .. also you're really ugly."  
  
"Can you go back to sleep already? the healing potion is somehow making you even more annoying than you usually are and I don't want to deal with babysitting you."  
  
"I was going to, but now I don't wanna."  
  
"What."  
  
"Ya."  
  
"..." Giving the situation a quick thought, an idea popped into the deity's mind. He wasn't too confident that this was going to work, but it was worth giving it a try, wasn't it? "- yknow, I'm starting to understand why Philza kills children if they don't listen to me." He murmured all too nonchalantly, raising a brow.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
_

_  
  
Pardon his American, but / what / ? okay, to completely think this through and decide whether Techno is only trying terrorize him or not, Tommy has to first even think about if Phil would go as far as to kill a child. Giving himself a quick second to think about the answer, Tommy narrowed his eyes, concentrating. No, he wouldn't, right? .. but then again he did joke about it once or twice.  
  
. . .  
Click.  
  
Oh my god.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Oh my fucking god Phil was going to kill him. But no. no, he wouldn't. c'mon. that's just stupid.   
  
  
_With an uncomfortable shift in his seat, Tommy grumbled _and slowly but surely slithered down, further into the blankets that he'd_ keep close to his still cold body. _Biting the inside of his cheek afterwards, Tommy narrows his eyes again and peeks back over with a curious expression, Interest finally overcoming the fear and confusion that once loomed over him._ _"He wouldn't actually kill me, you're just a troll." He childishly insulted. "And jealous, You're jealous because I'm the favorite and you can't handle being number two." The boy would continue all too smugly, smirking.  
  
"Every statement that you just made can be debated against but, sure, Tommy, I am currently seething in toxic amounts of rage and jealousy that can't be expressed through words alone. Every night I cry myself to sleep knowing that I will never be Philza's favorite, I sob into my pillow, thinking of how all of my efforts were thrown into the sea and I was pushed to the side because of some small, insignificant ch-"  
  
"OOOooookay, mr author! Sir big writer! I get you're not funny but It's not time to show that off."  
  
He deadpans.  
  
"Sure." And just as quickly as that he murmurs that out, the blade goes quiet, causing Tommy to further squint his eyes. He wasn't exactly getting the reaction that he wanted, nor was he getting any laughs or frowns. Staying quiet and calm was never Tommy's forte to be quite frank. And so, to fit his needs, Tommy cleared his throat in a comically cartoony way, subtly motioning the other boy in the room to pay attention again.   
  
"..."  
  
"He really would not though, yeah?"  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"The Phil thing, he wouldn't kill kids. I mean, fuck kids in general but, like, I'm cool."  
  
"So finally you've accepted that you are a child?"  
  
"NO? THAT"S- Oh my god, stop twisting my words !!!! That's so not fair."  
  
"Right, well, no, I was only messing with you, Phil isn't strong enough to handle your annoying screaming."  
  
Rolling his eyes, Tommy moved to the side again and basically planted his face against the pillow to hold himself back from just throwing yet another bitchfit and screaming numerous insults around, which would more than likely get him in more trouble than he was in now. But, the thought of it was still funny, at least. Feeling his eyelids slowly become more and more heavy and dawn onto his gaze, Innit rubbed at the left side of his face and tried to keep himself awake for another minute or two, just to spite the hell out of his presumed sibling. If he was going to go to sleep, he was going to sleep on his own terms, and not because he needed to listen to some oh so mighty and classy all A student who was sort of decent at PVP.   
  
For now, all he can hear is the light crackling of fire in the distance, and the occasional flicking of a page. Techno doesn't exactly seem as though as he wasted too much time getting back to what he was reading, Tommy doesn't know whether to be disappointed or glad, so he's taking the silence and the lack of any further comments as a sign of bittersweet defeat. With warmth beginning to slowly coat his body, the comfort of the blankets began to weigh down on his head even further, and the Innit found himself slowly relaxing and easing into slumber.   
  
It took a bit, but soon enough, silence filled the room completely.  
  
Count to a hundred sheep, Wilbur said, It'll help you fall asleep faster, He said.   
  
. . .  
  
It's funny until it finally works and you end up drifting away before you even know it.   
  
. . .  
  
And as Tommy all too peacefully fell asleep, the gaze of the deity gazed and _he let himself breathe out a relaxed exhale, _simply glad that stubbornness didn't make the younger act up again just to cause a scene, and that he instead let himself pass back out for the healing potion to properly work. Pressing his thumb against the middle of the book, he lifted it from his lap and slowly stood himself up from his seat, debating on just leaving the room without another thought in mind— however, there were a few voices in his hand that kept thinking the worst, intrusive paranoia creeping in with their every mumble and mutter. Several voices here and there would keep calling for Tommy endlessly, screaming and yelling for his name with desperation and worry, unreasonable fear clear as day. Techno knew that everything was alright with the kid, and knew that he himself didn't have to worry about anything.  
  
But, He couldn't exactly help but feel himself let out an annoyed, silent groan as he'd tiptoe a single leg forward and lean to make sure that the boy was out. And as expected, he was. Hell, he only just fell asleep and there was already drool on the pillow. Brushing off the now relieved thoughts of his, the blade shook his head dismissively and headed over to the fire, crouching and grabbing the fireplace poker.  
  
It didn't exactly take him that long to put out the fire, but once he did, there was yet another wave of relaxation that hit him. He could finally leave this godforsaken reeking room and go back to his own place that Phil often called a cave. Fixing up his posture and standing, Techno brushed his hair back and spared another glance towards the slumbering boy, making sure that everything was okay one last time. After settling down the only doubters that lingered in his brain as lingering whispers, the young god moved and headed over to the door, making sure to be as quiet as humanly possible.  
  
Opening it up, he shrugged his shoulders back and cracked his neck, murmuring out a low "Goodnight, Tommy." _Before he finally left, closing the door behind himself. _  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
_

* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"What a pain." The man sighed out, irritation peeking through the annoyed voice that got a hold of him as he rubbed at his eye and fixed his collar back up, attention quick to switch as within a second, the man would be standing back near the open chests of his room, the contents inside scattered and messy. It wasn't like this before, everything was clean, tidy, organized, yet, god didn't want him to have a peaceful day today. He had to go and ruin Techno's schedule and plans just because he went out of his regular routine and wanted to do something nice for a change, which didn't exactly go as he wanted it to either but. He'll take what he gets.  
  
Moving the empty glass bottles from the side table and dropping them back into the chests for later usage, the warrior began working away at organizing everything again, staying silent all the while ; his voices, on the other hand, didn't specifically like the quiet that settled, bickering with one another and continuously nicking at him to go out and do something interesting. He tried not to pay too much attention and instead focus on the task at hand, which was progressively getting more and more difficult as time passed. It's not that he exactly gets too bothered by the voices whenever they start acting up, he has grown used to that, but, when he tells them to keep quiet during specific moments and they don't oblige, It's easy to throw him off.   
  
_Go collecting skulls again._ They suggest thoughtfully. _  
  
TOMMYYY POG !  
  
_ _Why are we letting the child stay here?  
  
_ _You put the gold into the wrong chest, stupid.  
  
Why did we waste a healing potion on him again?  
  
E.  
  
TOMMY POGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!  
  
TECHNO THERE IS A HIDDEN CHEST AT -198 76 -238 UNDERNEATH A COBBLESTONE BLOCK, I THINK SO AT LEAST. Repeat until he gets it !!  
  
Dude shut up.  
  
I thought we were going into retirement?? why are we still associated with this guy, he makes our life like. ten times harder.  
  
We can just throw him into the snow and let him freeze to death, no one will notice with the amount of sn—  
  
_SLAM.  
  
"That's enough." Techno muttered out, pinching the bridge of his nose. _I get that some of you guys may not like this situation or - like Tommy in general, but. Phil would have my head if he realized that I just left Tommy in that sort of state and didn't do anything._ He tried to reason, but plenty of protests were quick to arrive and hiss at him.  
  
 _How would Phil know you even saw him?? Just get him out, you're making excuses. He's going to leech off of you and then you'll start going all: oh no tommy stop it don't make me regret doing this!  
  
_ His brows are furrowing now, and he closed up one of the chests. _Because I told him that I was going to go and visit Tommy to give him something. He is not stupid, now shut up, I don't want to deal with you._ After that, it went quiet for a while, and the blade waited, waited as the praise poured in almost instantly, complimenting him, cheering for him.   
  
_TECHNOPOGGGGGGGGGGG.  
_  
 _BROTHERBLADEEE_  
  
 _BROTHERBLADE LETS GOOOO  
_  
 _PROTECTIVEBLADE YES!!!!!!_  
  
 _ATTA' BOY_  
  
 _Nice._  
  
Despite having heard these sort of loving comments plenty of times before, Techno couldn't help but let out a small, light-hearted, brushing his hair back as with another click of a lock, he'd close the second chest, dusting his hands off. He would start working on tidying everything up to the extreme later on, besides, he was also tired after the whole ordeal that just took place. An ordeal that he still couldn't believe transpired today. The only time he was lucky to have been reckless.   
  
  
( _Lazily draping his hand over the lead that rested all too casually over the horses front part of the saddle, The bottoms of Techno's boots dug against the stirrup and the man leaned forward to comfortably make sure that everything in the pouch that he had packed earlier ago was still in and didn't somehow fall out, All the while Carl would all to calmly continue galloping forward and through the snowy mountains, proceeding through the dark forest of the night, which would arguably be dangerous for such an animal but, Techno wasn't too far bothered, he would take care of mobs if he needed to.  
  
"Why did I even pack the food, doesn't he have a mushroom horse?" The blade mumbled under his breath in a low tone, practically scolding himself as the realization. That, though, didn't last all too long as Carl leapt over a fallen tree and practically caused the deity to almost fall off of him, causing a glare to quickly sketch upon his features. "Carl? ? What the h-" Carl whinnied loudly, cutting him off. Techno took that as the animal's own way to say 'You're the one being stupid here and not hanging on safely.' Or maybe, that was just another voice of his trying to impersonate his pet. "Alright, aight', yeah, that was my bad. Sorry." With a satisfied Neigh and a shake of a head, Carl darted out of the forestry scene and into the clearing that would lead directly to the new small land that he once heard Tommy called Logstedshire. It was a stupid name, but he wasn't going to offer any suggestions himself because- why would he? Approaching the structure in the distance, Technoblade eventually tugged the lead back to alert Carl that he didn't need to go any further, which the horse quickly took the motion of and stopped, letting the man above hop off.   
  
With pouch in one hand and the other free, The crowned figure reached up and gave the horse a quick pat on the ear and neck, saying a quick parting; "we're not here for long, just stay by my side and we'll be out of here before you even know it." A few of the voices laughed at him, mocking the fact that he was talking to the animal as if it was a child that he had to take care of. The horse, on the other hand, huffed and nudged it's nose against the coated shoulder, causing Techno to simply get a move on and begin walk forward.   
  
This place has changed a lot since the last time he's been here from what he can see from afar. There was an ugly tent, a decent looking building which was probably worked on by Ghostbur and also a big.. unusual tower. Techno wouldn't really question it if it weren't for the fact that the tower didn't resemble any others that Tommy has built before, those were usually far bigger, more wide and well-structured, This was one nothing but a messy mix of blocks. With blurred vision, scrunched up gaze trying to find anything else that was appealing or even interesting about the build, and — there was.   
  
A small figure sat on top of the messily built structure, unmoving and frozen.  
  
He couldn't mask the reality of the blown up area with a fake image anymore.   
  
"What the heck.. Tommy?" Holding a hand up to his forehead and trying to decipher the foggy silhouette, Techno did not make an attempt to move closer or even call out to the person above. If anything, he was thinking that a sudden appearance of another presence would spook them and they'd end up falling off.  
  
Noting the river that swayed underneath, a bit of relief nicks at the man, and he brushes his hair back to have a clearer view. He doesn't enjoy the deafening silence, and doesn't like how he can finally see some movement. Same exact movement that was followed by rubble dropping.  
  
He can sense the ringing in his eye, it muffled out the piercing, terrified scream that aired from the kid that he once could protect. His leg's arent pointed down for a safe landing.   
  
He hears the loud splash as the body hits the lake.   
  
He can't hear the screaming anymore.  
  
Technoblade doesn't know when he began moving, but in less than a second he's hovering over the body of a young boy, shakily clutching his shoulders and dragging him out of the waters that had tried to drag him in. He's unconcious and the diety can barely figure out if he's alive due to the lack of visible heaving of his chest. his arms look mangled. His legs look mangled. He's cold, frozen and limp.   
  
Technoblade doesn't know when or why he raised his voice to yell out Tommy's name as if it was going to wake him up, doesn't understand the amount of panic that shook his hands as he desperately tried to find a healing potion that he didn't have on him.  
  
Technoblade doesn't know why he used so much force to hug the body that wasn't going to run away from him close, only to then hoist him up and whistle Carl over, usually calm breathing of his rapid and unsteady.  
  
Technoblade doesn't want to know why because all he does know is -   
  
The voices demand his mercy.  
  
His own voice demands his mercy. )   
  
  
_Wiping the sweat from his temple, the man lets out a quick huff, finally tired of procrastinating on resting. Shutting everything again, he went to plop himself down onto a nearby chair, aching muscles relaxing as he turned his head and tilted it down onto his shoulder, the uncomfortable position bothering him, but, he'd deal with it.   
  
_You did good today!!!  
  
_ _TECHNOSUPPORT!  
  
<3 TECHNOSUPPORT <3 _  
  
_SLEEPYBLADE <3 <3   
_  
_Dang we're going out this early???? I thought we were going to stay up .  
  
_ Physically feeling his eyes rolling back into his head, the scarred hand of the man raising itself yet again so he could rub at his eye and shake his head. _We're not going to sleep._ He corrected. _Not while Tommy is going to wake up soon.  
  
_ _we've been checking up on him for like hours now, man.  
  
we HAVE been checking but the healing potion is going to wake him up soon!!!! dumbass.  
_  
 _The sacrifices that we make for this guy smh.  
  
_ _We can set up an alarm tho._  
  
A deadpanning blink. _Guys, I know what I'm doing, can you n—  
  
  
  
_ CRASH-  
  
  
 ** _"... WHAT THE FUCK?!"  
  
  
  
_**  
  
 _Oh my god._


	9. ( UPDATE ! )

Alright so, the past few weeks have been complete hell so I just wanted to pop in here really quickly to say that there will be slow updates ! ;; please do try to be patient w/ me I'm still like . new to making fanfics and just this site in general. I'll try to work on the next chapter as soon as I can but I can't make any promises on what the deadline will be ! Ty a lot of understanding! Have some doodles as a sorry !  
  
  
  
<https://youtu.be/wztlljDcmT4>  
  
  
  
  
  



	10. His Sympathy.

( _"Do you know what happens when a legend is born, Tommy?" The low voice of the deity murmured, bright red hues staring up at the void black sky with gentle fascination, tint of relaxation sketching over the features of the bloodied god. "They are given a certain destiny to live up to. And if they don't do as their life instructs, they will be thrown away like a discarded toy and that's all. Seen as nothing but a failed science project." Looking from the small patch of dirt that he was playing with, the young warrior peeked over towards his sibling and rose a mocking brow, almost far too tired to properly process what was being said. It's not like he necessarily cared about what the blade had to say either way, it'd be either be too poetic for him to understand or it would be something that would bore the boy to death.  
  
"Our family all has a fate to live with too, I noticed. the voices told me." He almost feels awkward now, being the only one talking. "You have one as well." Now that. Exactly that got the Innit's attention and he was sitting up straight, staring towards the pinknette with fat pupils and awaiting the continuing of his sentence. Sure, fate, destiny and legends sounded boring and all that but - If you include Tommy in anything, it instantly becomes 5x times cooler. That was the law in his mind.  
  
"Yea'? Is mine being a chick magnet? " The teen joked under his breath with a snicker, barking out a laugh quickly afterwards as he heard Techno audibly sigh under his breath. "No, I'ts not attracting women, Tommy. They're-" The voices. They always know what to say. They always know everything in general, and if it weren't for the fact that they are being quite tame right now, the blade would be completely overwhelmed by the amount of paranoid thoughts that keep nicking at his sides, urging him to get closer and closer to Tommy until the guy was practically being protected by his very own pig-lin mask wearing bodyguard. "Your fate is.. interestin' to say the least, I mean, that's what they think. Iunno', You seem like a regular normie' to me."  
  
if it weren't for the fact that Tommy often times or not focused on only positive remarks (If it was being said about him) instead of the negative, he would have already ripped the other man into shreds by now and eaten him for dinner. "Yeah? Yeah? ? Well, you wear a fuckin' - you wear a fucking piglin mask! Literally! That thing has to be rotting by now, man! also, you can't say shit about my fate and then not talk about it, how is that in any way funny or smart?" Understanding that the younger would not get anything out from furthering the conversation, Techno completely scrapped the idea of any explanations and instead resorted to muttering out: "I don't know, I just forgot since it had nothing eventful about it. And again, It has enchants, It won't rot. "   
  
"Well it smells like it's rotting."   
  
"No it doesn't? you're the one that-" A slow exhale. He knows that fighting back will get him nowhere. "Sure, Tommy."   
  
"YEAH THAT'S RIGHT, BITCH! YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A RESPONSE HA A H."   
  
An annoyed ear twitch moves the blade's body before he shifts in his seat comfortably and slowly stands his frame up, cracking his own neck and then popping his shoulders back, which, fairly, caused a disgusting 'CRACK!' to echo from his figure. Maybe sitting hunched over for over hours and hours on end wasn't the best idea on his part.   
  
"Where are you going?" The blond questioned suspiciously, watching with a keen eye.  
  
  
_

* * *

 _  
  
"Nowhere, I think dream's here."  
  
Tommy froze up, and he looked around, confusion filling his gaze as instead of sitting in an open field, he was now in a non-familiar house, it was cluttered and messy. And he could feel himself being grabbed by the arm by no one but his own family member. "What?! What the fuck? Let gO OF ME!" The boy screeched out. Fight or flight. Fight or flight - his lungs wheezed. He began trashing uncontrollably, movements animalistic and frantic. He couldn't move, however, as he was squeezed closer to the grasp of the deity and held there with little to no remorse. "TECHNO?! TECHNO FUCKING LET ME GO- WHERE- WHERE EVEN IS HE? WHAT??"   
  
Then, came a knock on the door, and Tommy jolted. Shutting up within that very moment, Tommy's body would shrink more and more against the coat that was covering his side, fingers digging into the blood-stained shirt that was inches away from his face. He didn't know what was going on, and he was confused, and scared and **—**  
  
"Come in." The man above him said all too calmly, and Tommy's heart sunk down to his stomach. He could feel his own legs beginning to shake as he tried to move away again, instead being tugged back and held even tighter in one place. Almost like a dog on a leash.  
  
"Tech, Tech I don't want to go back, please don't make me go back- I don't-"   
  
Now everything was starting to get blurry. The door opened carelessly and he heard a satisfied hum.  
  
" **Thanks for catching him, he would not stay in one place."** )  
  
  
"What the.. fuck .. h- _ NO- _"  
  
_ A scream gets caught up in his throat and the body of the young soldier lunges forward in pure panic, sweat rolling down his head as his chest falls up and down with a rapid speed, heaving.   
  
_. . .  
  
  
_ _  
 **  
  
  
**_With adrenaline continuing to pump through his veins, Tommy shuffled back on the cushions unfamiliar to him and slammed his back against the bedframe, wide eyes glancing around his surroundings with pure panic. This room didn't look like his tent, nor any other place that he has seen yet _ **—**_ Wait, tent? tent, his tent, it's.. His tent isn't even there anymore is it? He remembers someone blowing it all up, but maybe that was just a dream too, yeah, maybe, just maybe, that was apart of his imagination. Mmhm. It's a posibility! He can't just deny it. Snapping back into reality and letting the reality of the situation sink in, the blond couldn't help but inhale a sharp breath only to release it in an impulsive scream.  
  
 **"WHAT THE FUCK?!"**  
 _  
_He was never good at hiding his emotions, nor was he good at even attempting to repress them. _Was I fuckin' abducted?!-_ was his first ever verdict that later on stuck to his brain instantly and kept sending waves of shock and dread over the already trembling body of the Innit, which caused nothing but more hysteria as he shoved himself away from the hardened surface he was pressed against and moved with unsteady springs of energy to get himself off of the bed _ **—**_  
  
 _THUD!_  
  
And he was now finding himself on the ground, vision still fogged as he let out a groan from the impact smacking his head. He tried to move again after that, but was quick to notice that his legs weren't working as efficiently as he wanted them to. His right leg was completely numb, and he swears if he squinted or focused enough he could see bandages wrapped neatly around it. but, it wasn't anything he concerned himself with too much. There were far too many different, and way more important things to focus on right now. Slamming his elbow against the ground to slowly steady himself again, Tommy's arms reached and hooked onto the bed side, pulling himself up onto his feet which were threatening to give out under him.   
  
Ignoring the pleading aches of his system, Tommy began moving to the nearest exit he could find, the ladders that were leading down. What he did not expect, however, was to hear someone else climbing up on them.   
  
Freezing in his tracks, Tommy fell silent for once in his life and with a nervous swallow of the lump in his throat, took a singular step back. He knew he was weak right now, and knew more than anyone else that risking his last life to someone that didn't even know would be one of the most shameful deaths for someone like him. I mean, for fuck sake's, He was a co-founder of a country, and a brave soldier, he couldn't just die to some stranger that thought kidnapping him was one of the brightest ideas in the world.  
  
With the head of the unknown fading into his vision, followed by the body, Tommy's eyes narrowed and he could make out a large, red cape, and pink ha- Oh.  
  
"Everythin' go-"  
  
 **"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, WHAT THE FUCK - WHAT THE SHIT-- WHAT THE HELL?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?! WHAT AM- WHY ARE YOU HERE?! YOU FUCKING UGLY ASS PIG SON OF A B-"  
  
** "This is.. my house."  
  
 _ **"..."  
  
**_ "..."  
  
" **YOU FUCKING KIDNAPPED ME?! YOU MOTHERFUCKER, YOU. BITCH! YOU ALREADY BLEW UP EVERYTHING I CARED FOR, AND NOW YOU WANT TO KILL ME? FUCK YOU. FUCK. YOU. I'LL KICK YOUR ASS. ILL FUCKING KILL YOU-"**  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Stop screaming." Techno cuts him off all too casually, watching Tommy retreat back to the side of the bed. "And sit down, the medicine is still taking affect on your body." He continues with a calm tone as if Tommy was going to stop to try hear him out. That mindset only ever earns him another yell followed by a train of curse words. **"I'LL SCREAM AS MUCH AS I WANT YOU FUCKIN' PRICK! HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP. hhHeEEEEEELPPPPPPPPP-"  
  
** The elder is more than sure that he started dazing the time Tommy began screaming and hollering for help, his ears were ringing and his eyes became more and more droopy as it went on. The voices argued with him to shut the kid up, some of them found him funny, but the rest - they just wanted to rest and bluntly found the boy annoying as can be. "You're just straining your voice now. No one can hear you out here." Maybe, on one hand, that sounded far more malicious than he wanted it to, and he confirmed that fact the second the soldier's face dropped into a horrified one.   
  
He never was good with kids. He didn't want to deal with this.   
  
**"WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM?!"  
  
** "I didn't kidnap you, can you please stop panicking? It's going to scare Carl."  
  
 **"DON'TT LIETO ME YOU STUPID PIECE OF SHIT! ILL FUCKIN' KILL YOU UNTIL YOURE DEAD!"  
  
** "What _ **—"**_ Before Techno could even say another word, Tommy stumbled forward in an attempt to reach for the drawer that stood on the side, perhaps to find a weapon that only ended up in another thud slamming against the ground as he lost balance and the deity took a long drag of a step towards him to grab a hold of the boy's arm and pull him up before he actually fell and hit the floor. With a struggle, The innit started to shove and kick at him, loud yelling piercing against the eardrums of the god.   
  
_Shut him up._ The voices demanded. They winced, uncomfortable and irritated. _Make him shut the hell up. Cut his tongue out. Throw him back in the snow and watch him freeze if he wants to jump to conclusions like that. What an ungrateful fucking brat. I'd rather have him dead tbh. Annoyedblade. Has Tommy gotten louder or is my audio fucking up? Holy shirt my ears, dude. L._ Shaking his head to focus, the elder took another breath in and basically dragged Tommy back over to the bed to forcefully sit him down, which was yet again, protested against.   
  
**"I WON'T LET YOU FUCKING KEEP ME HERE YOU MOTHERFU-"  
  
** _SHUT HIM UP.  
  
_ **"TOMMY, QUIET."  
**  
And that, had managed to do the trick flawlessly- the boy stiffened in one place and cringed back, chest still falling up and down with heavy beats as he struggled to keep the calm of the situation, instead now snapping his gaze to the side and refusing to look at his supposed 'abductor' in the eyes, who on the other hand, continued to stare at him with a motionless, unmoving gaze. It was cold, sharp and precise, not moving off of Tommy as the leer eyed the other down, keeping him in one place.  
  
"Oh, okay, good." Techno murmured, confused yet satisfied with the outcome. He would feel bad for raising his voice so soon but it didn't seem like it affected his sibling all too much. Or, at least, that's what he thought. "Now, you're going to let me explain." Tommy stayed silent. "You fell off your ugly tower when I was coming to visit and you didn't activate the enchant on your leg when you were falling, you hit your head _bad_ and broke a few bones, so technically, I saved you. You're welcome."  
  
Raising a brow, the blond squinted and in the second that he was calm, tried to recall what had happened. He remembers the tower now, and the fluttering image of the ocean welcoming him in, and- and he remembers the sky and the forest. He remembers. . .  
  
"Everything was also blown up." The voices in his head argue at that statement, some say that everything looked normal, the others agree with the host, and the very few who dazed or were asleep start questioning what took place. He didn't have the time to go into detail and remind everyone now, though. "Even your tent, so I couldn't leave you there or the mobs would have came and killed you off. You are in my house now, recovering."   
  
Blown up? What? Since when? He doesn't remember it being blown up. "No fucking way." _**—**_ Was it actually destroyed? He remembers a faint smell of something burnt but there's no way everything he had worked for was destroyed almost like that. There had to be a reason for it, right? Come on, Tommy, Think. It couldn't be a creeper, and not anyone you know. Can't be Dream, he only takes your armor and weapons. Why would Techno do that? Ghostbur hasn't showed up yet.   
  
_Who.  
  
  
  
_  
  
  
  
Was it _ **—** No. _That's not possible, He swore to himself that he would never become like that maniac.   
  
"-ommy?" Fading back into the reality in front of him, Tommy glared up at the figure looming over him like a tower, a light snarl sketching upon his features. "Fuck off, I'm not staying with you." A nonchalant shrug came from the deity as he rolled his head to the side and let out an exhausted huff. "That's fine with me, I'm not the one that wanted to visit you either way. Phil forced me come after finding Ghostbur alone in the snow." Wait. "What the fuck? Ghostbur? That prick hasn't visited me for over two weeks, what the hell?" Maybe he deserved to be out in the sn- "He has been there for quite a while now, at least that's what he said, at least." The man replied, monotone as ever.  
  
"..Alright, well, I don't give a fuck. I'm still not staying here, Phil can go and favor your ass more if he wants to but I'm not going to be here just because he wants to feel good about himself." Tommy growled out under his breath, awkwardly shuffling to the side so that he could attempt and stand again, which resulted in his legs tumbling back down once more and the teen finding himself back on the blanket. Deadpanning.   
  
"He doesn't favor me, but if you're so adamant about leaving, I can go get your boots if you're ready to head back out to holestedshire." The god joked with half-lidded eyes. Making the conflicted gaze of Tommy deepen even more as he groaned loudly and reached up to rub at his face aggressively. "Shut the fuck up, Techno." He hissed afterwards, the naïve side of him now starting to slowly soften as he realized that going out there was just another risk to his life. "How long does this fuckin' - thing take? the potion?"   
  
"About a day, I'd say?" The deity mused. "Depends on the injuries, on some wounds it takes only a few minutes or hours, but with you, you- Y'know, broke bones. and hit your head. So yeah, I'd say a day or two."  
  
Ignoring the fact that Techno could have just said a day or two right off the bat without being extra, Tommy took another look around the room and decided that while he was here, he'd make the most of it.   
  
_Leeching time._ A part of his brain snickered, as he looked back to Techno and in the most serious tone he could manage, murmured - "Bring me food. And diamonds if you have any, maybe you can also give me netherite as a thanks for me staying here, dunno."   
  
"If you want to eat, you're going to come down to the kitchen, I don't let anyone eat on beds in this house, Tommy. Not even Phil. And you're not getting special treatment." Well, that was offensive. Not having another second to voice his all too important opinion, The young soldier's frame was hauled off of the bed and he was loosely hanging onto Techno's shoulder, who was holding him up with one arm. "Give me a moment." He continued, beginning to walk forward while dragging the boy along without far too much care in how comfortable the transport was. After that was over with, He let go of him and instructed his hand to hold onto the crafting table that was seated next to the exit.  
  
"How the fuck am I going to get down?" Tommy questioned with a raise of a brow, peeking down.  
  
"I can either carry you or you can go down yourself."   
  
Both of those options involved him making a fool out of himself. He didn't like it. But, hey, if he was going to fail at something, He was going to do it on his own very terms instead of accepting pity help from someone like Technoblade. "I'll go down myself, thank you very much." He continued with a Jab of a rough tone, which his familial ignored without another thought and instead crouched to get onto the ladders and head down, quickly after ending up on the ground level, from which he'd look up at Tommy expectantly and wait.   
  
Tommy stared back at him for a short amount of time, rolling his eyes afterwards and whispering out a quick. "God, you're weird as shit." - Not letting go of the crafting table, Tommy positioned himself and slid his good foot against the ladder, which was luckily made out of wood and was stable. With a wince, Innit then inched himself closer and slowly pressed his second foot against the surfa _ **—**_ _"SHIT, SHIT F U CK. HOLY SHIT. THAT"S . MMMMM. THAT'S BAD. HA AH A A AHA."_ Techno glared at him with a questioning look. "I offered to take you down, didn't I?"   
  
That ticked him off.   
  
"Ohh, the minute I fuckin' get down there you're done for, I swear to god I'm going to kill you. You are so annoying." Rambling, Tommy held onto the stairs and attempted to slowly but surely move his body down while changing the positioning of his good foot against the steps. the next second he was struggling to keep balance properly, and the very next, next second, He was in the in the arms of the god, his lower body stuck to the ladder which he had fallen off of.  
  
. . .  
  
. . . .  
  
"Oh for fuck sakes." **  
  
  
**

* * *

  
  
"Tommy, Don't touch that."  
  
"I wasn't messing WITH IT ! There was just some dust on it, I'm helping you out." Taking his hand away from the handplate that worked as credit for a masterfully drawn piece of work on the wall, Tommy slumped back against the chair that he was sat on and pushed a hand up to his cheek to keep his head up, focus now reverting back to the man who was stood at a counter and was, from the looks of it, preparing potato soup. Of course, he shouldn't be surprised at this point. For as long as Tommy has known Techno, potatoes have always been his favorite meal. He'd eat those damned things each and everyday.   
  
"Hey, Can I help? ? ?" The teen chirped after a small moment, a toothy grin splattered on his face. He was drowning in boredom by now and was desperate to do literally anything to keep himself busy and entertained. "Also, say, why didn't you just leave me up there if you didn't even have anything ready? I could have taken a nap or something, not wait and watch you be.. you. Which is kinda boring."  
  
Techno, having to restrict himself from rolling his eyes into the back of his head, poured the broth, as well as the rest of the ingredients into the large pot on the stove and took a large wooden spoon to begin stirring it. Only after looking back to stare Tommy down. "No, You can't help, I'm already halfway finished and you'll just probably try to just set the whole kitchen on fire." That's true, the Innit thought. "And I didn't want you up there alone and AWAKE, I literally trust you with nothing right now, Tommy. Not after you tried to go into my chests to grab a weapon."   
  
"But my leg is all hurt n' shit, how can I even harm you? ?"  
  
"You can't harm me, but you can harm yourself. And I'm not wasting another healing potion on you. Those are way too useful."  
  
"MimimimiIMimIIMIMIM, Look at mhe, I'm thecnoblade and I'm rhich with photions that I dhont want to waste bhecause I'm greedy. I am inlove with potoatoes." Tommy mocked loudly, grin only ever growing more and more as he awaited a reaction of some sorts.  
  
And in a sense, he got it, but it wasn't anything extreme. Techno shut his eyes and inhaled deeply, staying collected and turning back to the pot to continue stirring the soup, now simply waiting everything to mix perfectly so that he could heat it up and get the child to shut up for at least ten minutes max.   
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
"Eat slower, you're going to choke." Technoblade would warn with a quiet voice, watching with a clean face as he'd take a bite out of his own bowl, Watching Tommy dig into the soup as if he had been starved for over a month. "fhuckk offh." Was the only answer that the blade received in response, and to be fair, commenting on someone's way of eating maybe wasn't the best way to be polite or proper. With another sip, however, the god couldn't help but let his eyes linger over and continue staring at the boy that sat across fro him. stare at how his shirt seemed far bigger on him than it did before, how skinny his arms looked. How underweight he looked IN GENERAL. With the lack of malice in his voice, the pink haired party brushed his hair back and took another bite. "Say, when was the last time you ate anyway? You've lost weight."  
  
  
"Dhunno, fhew days agho, none of your fucking-" he's swallowing, wiping at his mouth afterwards. "Business."  
  
A few days ago?- that didn't seem right. "How often do you eat?"  
  
"Whenever I remember."  
  
"How often is that?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Tommy."  
  
"I SAID I DON'T FUCKING KNOW, OKAY? JESUS. It's not that big of a fucking deal, just let me eat." And just like that, Tommy switched his focus and tried to forget about the conversation that had just occurred, something that the blade couldn't do as easily. With worry nicking at the back of his chest, the god lowered his head and continued eating, the voices in his head starting to ramble all too loudly. _Has he been starving?_ They started with concern. _There's no way. this dude always eats whatever he has in his hands. Cmon. what if he's just faking? Why the FUCK would he be faking that, are you insane? maybe he's just saying this so we give him extra food n' he doesn't need to work more and get shit himself. DUDE, STOP SAYING THAT. HE'S CLEARLY NOT? L. Yea I kinda agree with that dude, L.  
  
_ Lowering the spoon away from his mouth with a grumble, Techno perked up as he heard a light 'clank!' against the table, looking over to see that Tommy had moved away the empty bowl away from himself, and was now leaning back against the chair, bored.  
  
"I'll get the bowl, how was it?" The diety asked with a light smile, already predicting what the innit was going to say. "It was alright, I guess. Tasted like betrayal and lies but, Yknow, it was GREAT." Tommy snapped back bitterly, still as sour as ever as he avoided the gaze looking over him, hand tapping against the chair he leaned on impatiently.   
  
"Well, thank you. I didn't put any 'betrayal and lies' like you mentioned but, magic has it's wonders." Completely deflecting the accusation, Techno finished up his own meal and stood up swiftly afterwards, taking the empty bowls and heading over back to the counter to put them in the sink- only to then be stopped by floorboards creaking outside, it was loud and heavy, and the person clearly wasn't trying to hide their presence.  
  
Glancing over, Tommy knitted his eyes into a glare and anxiety began to spike. This felt.. oddly familiar, and he didn't like it. Scooching back in his seat, the bandaged fingers of the teen lifted and he squeezed the edge of the table, almost intending on ducking and hiding under it if things were to come to the worst possible scenario.  
  
The blade, unlike him, didn't appear to be bothered.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 **"Techno, mate! we're back!"**  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
( EXTRA, CHAPTER / CHARACTER- RELATED ART: )   
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright! Just quickly adding this here since I did change some stuff around. If you wish to contact me for anything, here are ways to get to me!; 
> 
> \- @Tommersinnit ( Innit central.) ( TWITTER. )  
> \- Lizi#6422 ( DISCORD.)


	11. ( YET ANOTHER UPDATE ! )

Hey lovelies ! Art dump again! This time, One of the pieces if actually related to the fic, hooray!   
  
I'll also have you all know that the next chapter will focus mostly on fluff and happy moments! I've been feeling under the weather lately and I felt that SBI content would be able to help both me and many other traumatized and gloomy readers cheer up! :]   
  
Anyway! here's the two things that I've prepared !   
  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz_u7Mv3jx4  
  
  
  
  
Hope you enjoy and I'll be seeing you all again very very soon ! <3 Have a good day ! 


	12. His pity.

  
  
_**"Techno, mate! We're back!"  
  
**_  
  
  
And with the voice of the familiar blaring, Tommy's grip only ever tightened against the table. Threatening to cause a crack as the boy slid further against the chair and inched his feet to press onto the floor, preparing to duck under the table. He wouldn't ever admit it but, there was an awfully large, burning sensation bubbling up in his gut, causing the most vile of thoughts to run through his mind. He wasn't thinking of the logical part of this whole ordeal now, all he could think about was **—**  
  
...  
  
What was he thinking about? Or, more specifically, who?   
  
With the glimpse of a mask shining over his mind, Tommy held back a shriek as the door simply swung open and the large figure appeared in the doorway, glancing over at him with a piercing, cold gaze, leering. _Dream's features slowly sketched into a grin after, and he let out a loud chuckle, axe held tightly in his gloved hand. "Tommy? What are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay ~~back at logstedshire. "~~ The man murmurs with a low, condescending tone, smirk shining through from even behind the mask. " C'mon, Get up, we're going ba-"  
  
  
_"Tommy?" The elder called, dragging him out from the unnerving fantasy he was stuck in for a second or two.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
Phil was staring at him, confusion laced on his face as he opened up his mouth to question the younger again, only to be interrupted **—  
**  
  
 _"TOMMMYYYY!!!"_  
  
  
  
  
  
 _"HELLO! I haven't seen you in like- A day! Welcome back, are you visiting? "_ The ghost boomed with pure joy, Absolutely oblivious of the tension that was beginning to rise. The teen, on the other hand, didn't seem as ecstatic to see him, and instead simply continued to stare at them with a dumbfounded expression.  
  
. . .   
  
"I.. what? .."   
  
  
  
  
  
Now, they were all looking at one another in what seemed to be never-ending silence, that was, until Techno decided that his dignity was not worth it and went ahead to completely break the quiet atmosphere by clearing his throat and motioning behind him. "Well, welcome back, there's potato soup if you're hungry." Philza gave an appreciative nod at the comment, then stepped into the house as his ripped wing shuffled to place itself onto his back once again, letting the ghost besides him in safely. "No, but seriously, what are you doing here?" The blond elder spoke up again after a second, taking off his coat and scarf and placing it onto the hanger all the while the dead entity simply flew through the air and moved to seemingly sit down right next to Tommy, who was still trying to take the whole situation is.   
  
"Well, for your fuckin' knowledge, Philza minecraft-" The innit started bitterly, glare forming as he could basically feel Ghostbur staring at the back of his head, watching with curiosity and excitement. "I don't even want to be here to begin with, so, don't get any wrong ideas because, no, I'm not here to gIVe my Family A vIsiT." The last part was said in the most mocking tone of voice possible, which made Phil turn his mouth into a straight line and drop his eyelids down halfway, now watching the young boy ramble. "Technoblade here thought it was just a good idea to kidnap me and force me to st-"  
  
"I didn't kidnap you." The deity interrupted from the counter, brow raising at the accusation. He would kick a child, kill a child, absolutely obliterate a child, but kidnapping someone as annoying as Tommy? He didn't want to destroy his own braincells now, did he? "You were literally dying in a lake and I _saved_ you. Don't twist the story, Tommy. I could have just left you there to die."   
  
If faces could hurt people, Techno would be getting jumped right now by the way Tommy is staring at him, malice written all over his face as he only mutters out a single rebuttal that popped into his head, a rebuttal that would completely invalidate what he first said. Did he exactly care about that though? No, not really.   
  
"But cha' didn't."  
  
"Why were you dying in a lake to begin with? I thought you knew how to swim?" Philza chimed in, curiosity lingering in his voice as the man pulls back the chair and takes a seat opposite from his youngest's, movements slow and exhausted.   
  
"You don't know jack shit about me so don't even start with that. But yes ! I do know how to swim! Thanks!!" The teen began again, words as sharp as a kitten's claw. "N' I don't know how I ended up in the lake, I don't even know if I believe that story to be honest! can be something the glorious blade made up to make himself look more heroiclikehealwaysdoes. BUT, y'know. y'know! Doesn't matter. because he's always right! We're cool, we're fine."   
  
"Right, okay. Techno?"   
  
"He fell off of some one block wide tower."  
  
"Oh! Like one of his ugly stone towers?" Ghostbur quickly called, head tilting.  
  
"No, like I mentioned, it was one block wide and just went up."  
  
"My towers AREN'T FUCKING UGLY! THEY'RE A SHOW OF POWER DAMN IT!" Tommy was quick to hiss out, completely ignoring the implications that were oh so casually thrown out there by the god. However, Philza didn't ignore the clearly visible hints, stretched his back against the chair and simply took a second to gather his thoughts and words, not wanting to be rash with his wording and attitude. Tommy was already on edge from what he could see, and trying to jump straight into acting all sympathetic with him wouldn't work either, more than anything, his attempts of offering help would end up in accusations of pity and wrong doing, and Phil.. He wasn't all too mentally there to deal with that sort of burden.   
  
"Mmhm, Aiighty', Well. How long are you going to be staying here?"  
  
Techno couldn't hold back a friendly scoff. "It's like a kid coming back home after dropping out of collage and immediately getting kicked out."  
  
And Philza, despite being aware of the tension, snickered. A toothy grin visible on his face. "Dude, no, I didn't mean it like that."  
  
Ghostbur didn't do anything but laugh along while not even understanding the situation. Tommy stared with pure malice. Clearing his throat, the man continued, still trying to hold himself together in the meanwhile. "No, but seriously- how long do you need to or.. want to stay here, I mean, I'd rather not get a whole room prepared just for ya' to fuck off. That's way too much work."   
  
"..." The survivalist can already feel the stubbornness rising, as well as the on-coming outburst. "WOOOWWWW, HAHHAA! Oookay!" Tommy began, and ghostbur awkwardly floated there right next to him, wishing he had blue but.. meant for anger. "I see how it is. You're- You're a real daft cunt, Y'know that, Minecraft? You're a fucking cunt. But yeah! No, nonono, I got your- I got the hint. So instead of staying here even though I didn't even really want to behereinthefirstplace! I'll go right now! Good-" He's shoving himself away from the chair, and pushing his good foot against the ground. "-fucking riddance!"  
  
"Tommy." Techno continued, exhaustion lacing the god's voice as he takes a step forward.  
  
"AND YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP TOO! YOU'RE THE REASON I'M HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE!" Completely forgetting his own condition, Tommy completely gets off of his seat and almost immediately shrieks in sheer pain as the burning sensation formed at his fractured foot shot up his entire leg and progressed to his body, the shockwave causing the boy to stumble forward with a shaky yell **—**  
  
Only for him to be grabbed yet again by the much stronger grip of the blade, who hauled him back and basically slammed the blond into his seat.   
  
"Fffuck, jesus fucking christ, m m m m m."  
  
"Are you okay, Tommy? You just screamed like a goat." Ghostbur would murmur, phasing through the arm of the elder sibling and instead poking his head out from Tommy's shoulder, staring at him. The innit, on the other hand, however, didn't seem as bothered by the question and was far more distracted by the throbbing pain that kept pulsing through his leg, which he was holding as tightly as he humanly could, trying to numb the pain. "Ooooo o o oo-" Nevermind, he's irritated, pissed and filled with the amount of rage that he could rival a sun's blast. " Y o u uu better s hut the f u ck up Wilbur before I kill everyone in this room and then you-"  
  
"My name is Ghostbu-"  
  
"OKAY DUDE! THAT DOESN'T MATTER RIGHT NOW, HOLY SHIT!-"  
  
Philza, who made the attempt to stay quiet during this whole ordeal and instead resorted to whispering back and fourth with Techno, slowly leaned back against the chair and cleared his throat to get the attention of the distracted two. "Okay, well, seeing as how you're still.. healing. You can stay here and you have the permission to leave whenever you want, until then, i'll set up a little spot for you on the couch. Can't make a whole room right now."  
  
".. I don't need your permission to leave."  
  
"Mm, You sure don't, Toms."  
  
"IS THAT FUCKING SARCASM? Last time I checked, PHILZA MINECRAFT - I didn't need your god damn- OPINION on everything. I ALSO ESPECIALLY dont need the opinion of someone who doesn't give a shit!"  
  
It's getting tense again, and ghostbur's frame moves back and away from Philza and Tommy, instead moving to blend in with the counter that Technoblade was still all too calmly leaning against and watching from. Despite seeing the aggression rising amidst the four, the diety still wasn't all too worried, I mean, family arguments were never his thing and the most he would be able to offer was a quick comment about a stupid thing that was said.  
  
Philza, unlike his eldest, was never slow to respond to rebuttals.  
  
"Tommy, not now. We can talk about your view of things tomorrow and how much we've all 'betrayed' no matter the reasoning tomorrow. I'm tired and bluntly not fucking awake enough for this."  
  
"You're not ever awake enough for anything."   
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
The clock continues ticking quietly as the wind whistles outside of the closed, tinted windows. It was quiet in the kitchen now, and Tommy kept his forehead planted at the table, simply laying there and debating whether or not to zone into a state of nothingness. His thought process, though, was disturbed by the cold gush of wind that brushed past his shoulders and made him peek up very slowly, blue hues immedietly being met with glowing white pearls, the soul phasing through from underneath the table and staring with a blank stare.   
  
They stayed like that for a moment or two, and the remains of Wilbur slowly cleared his throat, awkwardly grinning as he threw his hands up- "Boo!" his toothy smile grew, and the monochrome party excitedly wait for Tommy to scream or laugh, or, anything.   
  
"..."  
  
Tommy blinked slowly, and then gently placed his head down back against the surface, not wanting to give himself any further (possible) brain damage. With confusion filled blinks, Ghostbur inched even closer and with his hand forming into a weak, physical state, tapped the boy on the shoulder hopefully, trying his absolute best to be light with his actions.  
  
"Tommy? You seem down in the weathers! Here-" With one free hand reaching into his inventory, a small piece of material appears in his grasp, and he places it on the table right next to his younger brother. "-Have some blue! It'll make you feel better!"   
  
A muffled groan is heard, and Tommy's own hand, without the rest of his body moving, shifts to take a hold of the transparent dye on the table, gripping it in his hand forcefully. It didn't get instantly get tainted with the purest shades of blue, but instead, it turned a baby blue, which was a relief and a half to the elder that now floated above him and watched with curiosity.   
  
"Do you feel better?"   
  
"I guess."   
  
With a small 'mm..' coming from the the guitarist, the two continued to sit in silence, as the hand of the ghost would continue to move around and place transparent blues on the head of the younger, balancing it as slowly as eventually, they would all be tinted with color, seeping.   
  
Now all Tommy had to do was wait for Phil and Techno to get the living room prepared for him, to put away valuables that they think Tommy would snatch with little to no hesitation, and to get his sleeping place ready, since apparently they didn't have the time to make a proper bed right now.  
  
Thanks for nothing, the innit thought to himself bitterly, zoning back out into his own wonderland.

* * *

  
  
A shuffle of blankets airs through the room comfortingly as Tommy simply continues moving from side to side in the little rocking chair that for some reason Techno and Phil own. Sure, they were old and all that but - Tommy didn't expect Philza to already be sitting hunched over in a chair like this knitting hats and scarves for his future grandchildren. (Ignoring the one he already has.). Shaking his head to snap back into reality, The innit simply returns to staring at his proclaimed father, who was just finishing up with making him a little, nice, comfortable spot to sleep in - which was on the couch.   
  
"I can't even call this a pity bed." The teen mutters with distaste, the disappointment clear as day on his face. "I mean, come on, man. You might as well be letting me fuckin' sleep outside. This is just... sad." Hearing nothing but a laugh come from the elder, the blue hues roll once again with annoyance, and Tommy perks up the second he feels a grasp around his arm, nudging him to stand up. "C'mon, let's lay you down. Don't move your leg around too much, or it'll hurt."   
  
"Hmm, yes. the wooden floor here is made out of wood."   
  
"Shush up."  
  
Making Tommy stand, the ashy blond moved to wrap his arm around the young soldier's side and pull him close as to not push any weight onto his injured leg, carrying the boy over to couch and slowly but surely, laying him down against the cushions, making sure to gesture the other to position his leg over a large pillow that was placed there for his foot.   
  
"You need me to keep the light on? I know you never liked the dark, so-"  
  
"Don't say things like that and act like you know me."  
  
"Mmh. Yeah, okay. But still, my question still stands, do you need me to keep the lights on or not?"  
  
"..."  
  
Tommy isn't a coward, he never was and never will be, He has never seen himself as one either. However, he was always squeamish with the topic the night and the mobs that would spawn within the shadows, I mean, who wouldn't? After years of almost dying to these messed up creatures and experiencing near-death situations of close loved ones, he has grown to be quite distasteful towards them, even hateful, he'd say, and most importantly, paranoid. Absolutely paranoid.   
  
The fact that he's in a house that he doesn't know the layout of doesn't help either, nor does the fact that he's injured, AND neither does the fact that he has literally nothing to defend himself with. He's a defenseless sheep in the middle of a wolf ring waiting to be eaten ali **—**  
  
"Toms, dude."  
  
"Oh."  
  
He forgot Phil existed for a second there.   
  
"Do whatever you want, I don't give a flying shit."   
  
With a hum of affirmation, the larger figure stood and backed away from the couch, instead now turning to the lantern that stood on a drawer, approaching and taking a hold of it as he would dim the light ever so slightly, making sure that if Tommy were to wake up in the middle of the night, he wouldn't find it difficult to see his surroundings and making out every possible shape. He didn't want a repeat of that one night. "There we are." The man quietly said under his breath, setting the lantern back down and then turning to the laying teen once more to make sure that everything was alright. "Well then, goodnight kiddo, if you need anything me and Techno will be upstairs, and ghostbur .. ghostbur will be somewhere around the house, he just wanders."   
  
Tommy didn't bother with a reply, and instead shuffled his head to the side to press it against the pillow.  
  
" .. Rest well." Philza added reluctantly as Tommy simply shut his eyes, now completely ignoring him.  
  
A few seconds later, a click could be heard, as the man in green left the room.  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
 _It's time to go to sleep now._  
  
 _Tomorrow we're going home.  
  
_ _  
  
_. . .  
  
  
  
  
 _We can't let dream know we were here.  
  
  
  
  
  
_

* * *

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, if you've read this far, good job !! and ! thank you a lot! I'll see if I can update this fic as soon as I possibly can ! >:]c
> 
> Also! I don't exactly have an official page for social media where people can contact me specifically for this fanfic but I do have an old twitter that I barely use! ( @Tommersinnit ) , If you have anything to share with me (Headcanons, fanart, etc.), you can tag me there and I'll get back to you as soon as I can!


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